"The tobacco pandemic is a communicated disease. It is spread through advertising, through the example of smokers and through the smoke to which non-smokers – especially children – are exposed. Our job is to immunize people against this pandemic. "
Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director- General World Health Organization.


WHY TOBACCO PROMOTION SHOULD BE BANNED IN PAKISTAN?

An overwhelming majority of independent and peer reviewed studies have established tobacco promotion as a cause of increased tobacco consumption. Although the tobacco industry knows this, it continues to indulge in its unethical marketing practices promoting its products to all sections of the society. The concept of civil society empowers individuals with a generalized responsibility to act with regard to the interests and collective life of the community. Tobacco promotion not only undermines these interests but also disrupts the collective life adding to the problem of increasing tobacco consumption.

Every year, tobacco kills 4 million people worldwide -- about 500 million people alive today will eventually be killed by tobacco. More than half of these people are now children and teenagers. By 2030, tobacco is expected to be the single biggest cause of premature deaths, accounting for about 10 million deaths per year.


With trade barriers being curtailed to liberalize global trade, the tobacco industry has found a haven in many developing countries, where there are often no laws designed to regulate and monitor their activities. There is also an enhanced competition amongst the makers of tobacco products to capture these emerging markets, resulting in lower prices, greater advertising and promotion expenditures, and other similar activities that stimulate demand for their product.

The tobacco industry, like all other profit making industries, depends upon consumers for its growthAdvertisements offer a means to create a positive image of tobacco products and link them to desirable personal traits. Their objective is to stimulate and increase demand for the product and broaden the base of people using it.

The tobacco industry pours billions of dollars into promoting its cigarettes around the world. Advertisements form a central part of these campaigns and are carefully designed and based on the habits, tastes and desires of targeted potential customers. These campaigns also take into consideration social and cultural aspects and include slogans that are specific and appealing to each society or intended age group.

Tobacco kills a smoker every 8 seconds – in order to maintain its market, the industry must constantly recruit new smokers. The advertising and promotion of tobacco products are focused mainly on young people, who the tobacco industry sees as the source of replacement smokers.

“They [young people] represent tomorrow’s cigarette business. As this 14 - 24 age group matures, they will account for a key share of the total cigarette volume for at least the next 25 years” writes one of the industries executives, J.W.Hind of R.J Reynolds Tobacco, now owned by the Japan Tobacco in an internal memorandum, dated 23rd January, 1975.

“Younger adult smokers have been the critical factor in the growth and decline of every major brand and the company in the last 50 years. …Younger adult smokers are the only source of replacement smokers….. If younger adults turn away from smoking, the industry must decline, just as a population which does not give birth will eventually dwindle.”
Young adult smokers: strategies and Opportunities; Internal memorandum from R.J Reynolds. 29 February 1984

Countries like Australia, Finland, France, Italy, New Zealand, Portugal, Singapore, Thailand and Turkey recognized the increasing threat of tobacco consumption and have imposed bans on all kinds of promotion of the tobacco products. The European Union aims to phase out all types of tobacco promotion by the year 2006. But countries like Pakistan, dependent on the perceived economic gains from the tobacco industry, are still deliberating on how to tackle the issue focusing on the economic argument rather than its health impact.

The tobacco industry in Pakistan indulges in aggressive promotional activities. Indeed, advertising is the industry’s main tool in its goal to increase consumption of tobacco products. If Pakistan is to achieve a reduction in tobacco products consumption, for the health of our people, a ban on all direct and indirect advertisements of tobacco products is imperative.

Tobacco advertisements increase tobacco consumption:
Researchers have concluded from evidence gathered from around the world, including the United States, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Australia and Germany, that there is a causal link between tobacco advertising and its subsequent consumption.
The U.S. General’s report of 1989 identifies four direct mechanisms by which tobacco advertising leads to an increase in tobacco consumption:
• Encouraging children or young adults to experiment with tobacco products and initiating regular use.
• Increased daily consumption.
• Reducing motivation to quit smoking.
• Encouraging former smokers to take up smoking again.

Bans on advertising lead to reduced consumption.

“Bans on advertising and promotion prove effective, but only if they are comprehensive, covering all media and all uses of brand names and logos.” (World Bank Report.
‘Curbing the epidemic’)

The evidence
Countries which have banned all kinds of promotion have witnessed a decrease in the overall drop in tobacco consumption.
Country Date of Ban Percentage drop in consumption since year of ban on advertising
Norway 1 July 1975 -26%
Finland 1 March 1978 -37%
New Zealand 17 December 1990 -21%
France 1 January 1993 -14%
(Source: Luk Joosens, ‘Questions and Answers: Why Ban Tobacco Advertising in the European Union,” International Union Against Cancer, Feburary 1998. Quoted in “Tobacco Advertising & Promotion: The Need for a Coordinated Global Response, Ross Hammond.)

The Deceptive face of the Tobacco Industry.
The truth behind voluntary marketing codes.

The tobacco industry in Pakistan has adopted a ‘voluntary and self regulatory code for the marketing of cigarettes’. The Purpose of the code is to “establish a form of self -regulation, with uniform standards for the marketing of cigarettes, including advertising and promotion of cigarettes, [which] are directed solely at adults in the domestic market of Pakistan. This Code establishes uniform standards for the advertising and promotion of cigarette brands in Pakistan and provides a mechanism whereby compliance with this Code can be ascertained promptly, fairly and on a consistent basis”.
The hidden agenda of the tobacco industry is illuminated by a Phillip Morris memo from Colin Goddard, “Pakistan – Meeting in London,” 9 July 1994. (meeting between Philip Morris, BAT and Rothmans) (Place Scanned picture of tobacco ad)
“Since the industry in Pakistan is facing unprecedented opposition, not only on the advertising front but on most other issues too, including ETS [Environmental Tobacco Smoke] the time had come for the companies to be considerably more proactive. This reflects the attitude that is currently prevailing in almost every country in the region to one degree or another...An industry code will be written … so that it can be used as both a lobbying lever and an argument against not introducing formal legislation…it was proposed that we look at developing a minor’s program that would show that industry to be willing to work cooperatively with the authorities in at least one area in which we have a mutual objective.”

The reality behind other claims:
The tobacco industry’s voluntary marketing code claims not to use models who appear to be under 25 years of age. They further claim that cigarette advertising shall not suggest that smoking is essential to social prominence, or sexual attraction, nor shall it picture a person inhaling or exhaling cigarette smoke and cigarette advertising should not suggest that as a result of smoking a person appears attractive or healthy.

An analysis of the tobacco advertisements undertaken by TFI-Pak indicated that models in all advertisements were portrayed as sophisticated, professionally successful, sexually attractive, athletic and brave, friends in need. In short, the characters portrayed in these ads are emblems of adulthood that are idolized by children trying to find a place in the adult world.

Every brand carries a slogan around which the media campaign is built. These slogans are in local language and are developed after a meticulous research on the cultural and social aspects of the society. They are structured to appeal young adults psychologically as friendship, adventure and freedom are some of the traits one aspires to have at this age. Popular singers and their compositions are used to further enhance the appeal. These slogans are incorporated into media themes depicting the slogan and the activity of smoking as one.

Some of the slogans used by the industry are:
Brand name Slogan
Benson and Hedges Be gold (one & only)
Capstan Men demand Capstan the world over
Diplomat Enhances the taste*
Embassy This is the friendship*
Gold Flake Together in success*
Gold Leaf For the taste alone, A taste apart
Gold Street Share the golden moments
K-2 Always together*
Morven Gold Share the taste of adventure
Red & White Come for the style and stay for the taste
Wills Kings The same great taste*
*. Translated from URDU


The Economics of Tobacco Advertising:
One of the worlds largest multinational cigarette company, Philip Morris, (PM) with global sales of over $36 billion, spends $3.1 billion on its advertising campaigns, making it the world’s ninth largest advertiser. British American Tobacco (BAT) with sales of over $26 billion spends almost $459 million on advertising on tobacco products. The tobacco industry has increased its expenditures on media campaigns by 2000% since 1965 with a significant rise in the early 90s.

Yet the tobacco industry still maintains that advertising is focused on maintaining brand loyalty and inducing people to switch brands, and is not aimed at increasing tobacco consumption.
In a paper commissioned for the World Health Organization, Ross Hammond calculated the amount the tobacco industry stands to lose if the above claim is taken seriously. According to these calculations, for every smoker it attracted as a new customer the company gains $535. This is calculated by multiplying the average number of cigarettes smoked per day by 365 days of the year and the average wholesale price of the company’s brand. Yet the companies spend almost $1180 per smoker who wants to change brands, again calculated by considering the amount spent on advertising campaigns and the percentage of people switching brands (around 10% per year). Considering these figures, the companies stand to lose $644 for every smoker who switches to their brands. For each smoker who didn’t change brands, the entire investment would be lost.
If the companies are true in their stance of promoting brand loyalty and brand switching, economic sense prevailing, those with dominant market share would be advocating strict advertising bans in order to lock in their market share. In fact these companies do just the opposite, arguing against ad restrictions at every turn.

EXPERIENCES WITH HEALTH PROGRAMS:
Many countries have undertaken health promotion and education programs to inform people of the hazards of tobacco. However, these efforts are continually undermined by the tobacco industry. Over 40 years of experience with health education and health promotion measures show that these measures alone are insufficient to combat the tobacco problem. If smoking is still perceived as socially acceptable, educational campaigns focused on the health hazards of tobacco use will have but modest results in getting large numbers of smokers to stop smoking or in preventing non-smokers especially teenagers from starting. The net effect will be a well-informed population of continuing smokers. For better results, education and health promotion must be accompanied by other actions, particularly legislation and tobacco tax measures that will reduce the social acceptability of tobacco use.

Tobacco advertising campaigns in Pakistan:
In Pakistan the tobacco companies pour millions of rupees into their advertising campaigns. According to, ‘Advertising Age’ a magazine which monitors the spending of different companies, Lakson Tobacco spent Rs. 328 million (32.8 crore) in 1998, making it the third largest advertiser in Pakistan. It was followed by British American Tobacco, which spent Rs.295 million (29.5 crore) on advertising. In comparison the total amount spent by the Government of Pakistan on all health education programs during the same year on immunization, family planning, AIDS, and tobacco was Rs. 55 million (5.5 crore), which is less than 6% of what the two tobacco industries (BAT and Lakson Tobacco) spent on their media campaigns.
Psychologists and researchers believe that the tobacco industry’s media campaigns are carefully designed and aim to familiarize the younger generation with the act of smoking. The use of cultural events creates an aura which depicts smoking as an inherent part of society, thus creating an impression that the act of smoking is a part of the norm. The added attractions of prizes, lotteries, gift schemes and the use of celebrities is all a part of luring the younger generation towards smoking. The tobacco industry admits as much saying, “The adolescent seeks to display his new urge for independence with a symbol, and cigarettes are such a symbol since they are associated with adulthood and at the same time adults seek to deny them to the young” (Kwechansky Marketing Research Inc, Report for Imperial Tobacco Limited, Subject: “Project 16”)

The tobacco industry’s advertisements appearing in the local press, soon after their adoption of the ‘self regulatory code’ in early 2001 claiming that cigarettes are not sold to minors, generate the idea of making cigarettes an adult commodity, thus enticing the young to join the adult group and also portrays a hidden agenda of appearing responsible in the eyes of the public by promoting ineffective youth access measures. According to a Philip Morris executive, “If we don’t do something fast to project the industry responsibility regarding the youth access issue, we are going to be looking at severe market restrictions in a very short time. Those restrictions will pave the way for equally severe legislation or regulation on where adults are allowed to smoke” (Philip Morris, Third draft of a speech, JJM to PM Invitational, Importance of youth issue. 10 Feb 1995, http://www.pmdocs.com)




Marketing death
Fritz Gahagan, once a marketing consultant for five tobacco companies offered insight into this business:
“The problem is how do you sell death? How do you sell a poison that kills 350,000 people per year, a 1,000 people a day? You do it with the great open spaces ... the mountains, the open places, the lakes coming up to the shore. They do it with healthy young people. They do it with athletes. How could a whiff of a cigarette be of any harm in a situation like that? It couldn’t be - there’s too much fresh air, too much health - too much absolute exuding of youth and vitality - that’s the way they do it.” (1988)
Quoted in World in Action, Secrets of Safer Cigarettes, 1988

Some examples of advertising campaigns in Pakistan:

The state run Pakistan Television Corporation earns almost 33% of its advertising income from the tobacco industry. According to press reports, PTV generated around Rs. 280 million through tobacco advertisements during the Cricket World Cup 1999.

‘Gold Flake’ a brand popular with the low income group, is manufactured by Pakistan Tobacco Company, (PTC). British American Tobacco holds 67% shares in PTC. In one of the media campaigns eight million posters and 350 banners advertised this product at a cultural event ‘Canal Mela’ in Lahore. Double page advertisements sponsoring the event were placed in the local newspapers and 1.5 million leaflets were also distributed. ‘Eid Hungama’ a celebrities stage show was also sponsored by the same brand.

PTC, manufacturers of ‘Embassy’ offered a ‘Toyota Hilux’ as a prize through a draw. Contestants entered by sending Embassy empty packs. The company received one million entries, which translates in to 20 million cigarettes sold.

Gold leaf’s media campaign ‘Voyage of Discovery’ offered lucrative prizes including Rs. 150,000 in cash.

The view of the Council of Islamic Ideology, Pakistan
The Council of Islamic Ideology, Pakistan (CII) has recommended a ban on smoking and has described the Act as ‘Makroh’. The members of the CII have also urged the Muslims not to indulge in this habit as it is a sheer waste of money that is strictly forbidden in Islam.
The CII also supports the call for a complete ban on advertisements of cigarettes on electronic media and has demanded the same from the government.

Who stands to lose if tobacco advertisements are banned?
The economic fears that have deterred policy makers from taking action are largely unfounded. Policies that reduce the demand for tobacco, such as bans on advertising or increases in tobacco taxes would not cause long term loses in the vast majority of countries. The effects, if any, would appear gradually and the growth in population in these countries would tend to compensate for these. The tobacco industry recognizes the need to advertise and according to a Philip Morris executive: “Advertising is critical to our ability to expand the geographical presence of our brands and sustain their premium image” (W.Webb, 1933 Board presentation Closing, 19 October 1993, www.pmdocs.com Bates No. 2500157095)
The state of Pakistan, which collected Rs.18 billion during the year 1999-2000 as Central Excise Duty and Sales Tax from the tobacco industry, has become addicted to these revenues and has altogether neglected not only the amount spent by it on the health care of the people who have suffered from the hazards of tobacco consumption but also the life years lost due to premature deaths of these people.

What can you do to help?
• Ask people around you not to smoke. Do not feel shy, as this is your right.
• Ensure that you and your children are protected from tobacco by declaring your home a ‘Tobacco Free Home’. (for further details on this campaign, please contact us)
• Try and make your working place tobacco free.
• Talk to your children’s school administration and discuss it in Parent teacher meetings. Ask schools to take up this issue and declare schools tobacco free. It is important to provide information to children in a manner, which does not portray cigarettes as an adult commodity as most children view this habit to be a part of growing up.
• Write letters in newspapers and talk to your local people telling them about the hazards of tobacco use.
• Discourage people from advertising tobacco products in your area. Do not allow the tobacco industry to use the space of your residential area for posters and other exhibits.

TFI-Pakistan
Tobacco Free Initiative-Pakistan is a project of TheNetwork for Consumer Protection. TFI-Pak is an informed and organized response from civil society to promote and contribute towards effective tobacco control in the country. TFI-Pakistan approaches the tobacco issue in a holistic way and its strategies address problems on both the demand and supply sides.
In collaboration with the World Health Organization's Tobacco Free Initiative, Department for International Development United Kingdom, the international anti-tobacco movement and active national and local groups, TFI-Pakistan has launched a national anti-tobacco campaign. The aim is to curb the tobacco epidemic in the country in order to minimize the related burden of disease.

Objectives of the TFI-Pakistan

• Effective advocacy by mustering national support for evidence-based tobacco control
measures e.g. ban on all kinds of tobacco promotion.
• Contribution towards development of comprehensive anti-tobacco legislation.
• Building a national awareness campaign about the hazards of tobacco through partnerships at all levels.
• Undertaking policy and operational research to fill knowledge gaps for effective anti-tobacco action.
• To lobby for and contribute towards the development of the Framework Convention for tobacco control at national and international levels.

The need to work together:

TFI-Pakistan will strengthen with the support and cooperation of smokers and non-smokers, health workers, teachers and parents, politicians and opinion leaders, trade unions, commercial and industrial organizations, media, schools and other educational institutions, consumer groups, health services and medical associations, religious groups and researchers.
We need to present a collaborative front on the issue and protect our rights as consumers.
If we do not act now the future of our generations would be at the whims of the tobacco giants, whose sole interest is the ‘profit’.

By
Dr.Ehsan Latif
Coordinator
Tobacco Free Initiative – Pakistan
TheNetwork for Consumer Protection
40. A Ramazan Plaza G-9 Markaz
Islamabad.

for comments:
dr_ehsan@pakistanreview.com