UK tobacco industry breaches advertising ban

British supermarkets Sainsbury's and Morrisons have been accused by Trading Standards, the body responsible for ensuring compliance with trading standards in the UK, of breaching regulations by displaying advertisements for heated tobacco in their stores.

As in France, British legislation provides for a strict and total ban on advertising for tobacco products. Since 2003, the United Kingdom has banned all forms of advertising in the media, on billboards and the Internet. The law also prescribes direct mail, product placement, promotions and free offers, and sponsorship activities. With the aim of denormalizing and reducing smoking, tobacco product displays visible to consumers (display ban) have been banned in supermarkets since 2012, and since 2015, this principle has been extended to all stores.[1].

Banning tobacco advertising, an effective public health measure

As the NGO Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) points out, advertising and promotional offers at the point of sale have a direct impact on the consumption of the younger generations, but also of the most vulnerable populations.[2]. Research conducted on the subject has therefore shown a decrease in consumption, particularly among young people, following the entry into force of the total ban on advertising. A review of the literature published in Tobacco Control in 2025 estimates that a total ban on advertising is associated with a 20% reduction in the risk of current smoking and a 37% reduction in the risk of starting to smoke.[3].

A common strategy to circumvent regulations

As reported by the BBC, specific details regarding the nature of the offending advertisements at Sainsbury's and Morrisons have not been disclosed. However, the advertisements in question are said to be for the heated tobacco devices IQOS and Ploom, produced by manufacturers Philip Morris International (PMI) and Japan Tobacco International (JTI) respectively. As in France, it is likely that the tobacco industry will argue that these advertisements relate to the devices, and not to tobacco itself, and are therefore not subject to the general advertising ban. In France, however, this argument was not able to convince the courts, since following legal action by the National Committee against Smoking (CNCT) against Philip Morris France (PMF) and Philip Morris Products (PMP), the Paris Court of Appeal ruled that the IQOS advertisements referred to " inevitably to the tobacco that this product allows to be consumed” and “consists, consequently, of illicit indirect advertising of tobacco”. The deliberate nature of the tobacco manufacturer's strategy of circumventing protective prohibitions was highlighted by the decision, which considered that the advertising campaign had been carried out “with full knowledge of the facts by companies that are fully advised and aware of the legislation in force”.

FT

[1] BBC, Top supermarkets running 'prohibited' tobacco ads, 01/02/2025, (accessed 05/02/2019)

[2] ASH, Tobacco Advertising and Promotion in the UK, 02/2019, (accessed 05/02/2019)

[3] Saad C, Cheng B(, Takamizawa R, et al, Effectiveness of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship bans on smoking prevalence, initiation and cessation: a systematic review and meta-analysis, Tobacco Control Published Online First: 13 January 2025. doi: 10.1136/tc-2024-058903