JTI actively distributes and promotes its cigarettes in Germany

According to an investigation by The Bureau of Investigate Journalism[1], cigarette maker Japan Tobacco International (JTI) has been running disguised ads for its brands and events on Facebook and Instagram in Germany. This practice allows it to circumvent national and social media advertising ban regulations to better promote its cigarettes to teenagers and young adults.

The company has set up social media pages that resemble lifestyle groups. These pages—listed as “festival” and “community” in Facebook’s transparency statements—appear to focus on events, travel, and music. They use the company’s branded fonts, graphics, and advertising styles without mentioning an explicit affiliation with tobacco products. In fact, these pages have been used to help promote three cigarette brands: Camel, Winston, and American Spirit, and they serve as showcases for JTI events.

Social media: the tobacco industry's lucrative playground

This marketing practice, called "stealth marketing" or "alibi marketing," is designed to circumvent both Facebook/Instagram rules and German legislation prohibiting any promotional information that could encourage youth and young adults to use tobacco. This type of marketing involves using social media (social networks, blogs, forums, and other community spaces) to disseminate information favorable to the manufacturer's brand or products without the message appearing to come from the manufacturer or its advertising agency.

The sponsored posts on these pages featured the brands under engaging slogans, seemingly making no direct reference to the brands or tobacco products, such as "Let's CML" (Camel), "Ganz Genau" (Winston), or "Full of Spirit" (American Spirit). In addition to promoting JTI festivals, the posts also promoted contests and sweepstakes among their followers to offer tickets to these festivals, tobacco products, or branded merchandise. One contest winner posted a photo on Instagram of her prizes, which included a pack of Camel cigarettes, a Camel ashtray, and yellow and blue Camel socks. Another user told the Bureau that she was sent a free pack of Camel cigarettes and a lighter as a surprise birthday present.

Audiences on these social networks are substantial, particularly among the younger generation. For example, an ad managed by the American Spirit page reached at least 1 million people, received more than 50,000 impressions, and nearly half of the people who viewed it were between the ages of 18 and 24, according to Facebook's ad library.

Figure 1 - Photo from the KK03 PR firm's website showing Winston's promoters at the Airbeat One dance music festival

On-site at festivals and other events organized by JTI, mobile vendors offered free cigarettes and tokens for free drinks to all attendees.

On the website of JTI's public relations agency, KK03, no fewer than five events were organized and promoted in 2019 by the company for the three brands. Concerts, festivals, and food trucks converted into mobile cigarette stands are popular with teenagers and young adults, as the photographs of the events show. In its presentation of its projects, KK03 states: ensure the sale and promotion of the product for its client Japan International Tobacco ", "offer samples at events " or even “associating the [American Spirit] brand with interactive content, experiences and tools ".

Figure 2 - Photo from the website of the public relations firm KK03 showing the distribution of samples of the American Spirit brand during the "Splash Festival"

Tobacco and advertising: Germany is the bad European student

According to the 2019 tobacco control surveyGermany ranks last in the European Union's tobacco control and prevention rankings. This delay comes at a high price in a country that records 120,000 premature deaths due to smoking. Since the implementation of effective tobacco control measures between 2000 and 2009, little has been achieved, with the exception of implementing the European Tobacco Products Directive. Germany was for a long time the last country in the European Union to authorize tobacco advertising displays, despite several attempts to ban these practices. A ban was decided from September 2020 but with long transition periods. Tobacco advertising in cinemas is expected to be banned in 2021, as well as the distribution of free samples at events. A ban is planned for 2022 in outdoor areas, while the ban on heated tobacco will not be until 2023, and the ban on e-cigarettes until 2024, giving the tobacco industry considerable time to adapt its strategy.[2].

Although advertising for tobacco products is strictly prohibited on the internet In Germany since 2007, the tobacco industry has continued to resort to circumventions or, in this case, does not comply with the provisions in order to continue promoting its products. In 2017, the German Federal Court rejected the tobacco industry's appeal following its conviction by two regional courts for illegal advertising on the internet.[3]A consumer protection association had taken the consumer association to court regarding a photo on a manufacturer's website that presented tobacco products in an attractive manner. The Landshut District Court and the Munich Regional Court ruled that the photo was an illegal advertisement for tobacco and ruled in favor of the consumer association. This decision by the Federal Court constitutes a landmark case law in the interpretation of the ban on advertising tobacco products. The latter applies to manufacturers' websites and pages that may be promotional in nature without the need to make a sale.

Keywords: Germany, Japan Tobacco International, advertising, tobacco, youth, festival, Facebook, Instagram Photo credit: ©Image taken from the Winston Highfield Festival event website KK03 ©Generation Without Tobacco

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[1] Matthew Chapman, Ferdinand Moeck, Tobacco giant JTI placing stealth ads for its brands on Facebook and Instagram, April 25, 2021, accessed April 27, 2021 [2] Tobacco Free Generation, 2020 Tobacco Atlas in Germany: Worrying situation, December 23, 2020, accessed April 27, 2021 [3] Ivan Bremers, BGH untersagt Tabakwerbung im Internet, October 5, 2017, accessed April 27, 2021 National Committee Against Smoking |