Cigarette stickers as a way of circumventing advertising legislation

Inserting advertising stickers into cigarette packs or placing the insert on the pack is a growing practice to circumvent bans on advertising and promotion of tobacco products. A study analyzed the content of these advertising materials in 11 low- and middle-income countries.

The ban on any advertising or promotion of tobacco products is one of the major provisions of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCCLAT). This requires, in particular, that Parties implement this ban within five years of its ratification. The generalization of this ban throughout the world over the past twenty years has led tobacco manufacturers to invest more in the marketing of cigarette packaging and to use other advertising media.

One such alternative medium is to insert an advertising insert into the package or place it on the surface of the package. This practice has become widespread in recent years, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. A US study collected the vignettes found in a group of these countries and analyzed their content[1].

Most often stickers inserted in the package

Of 5093 cigarette packs collected between 2013 and 2020 from 14 countries using the Tobacco Pack Surveillance System (TPackSS), 178 packs (3 %) from 11 countries contained an advertising insert, either inserted into the pack or affixed to the pack. In 96 % of cases, this was an advertising sticker inserted into the pack, rectangular in format and divided into two folded flaps. As with the stickers, the inserts affixed to the packs were removable.

67 % of these inserts came from packs marketed by Japan Tobacco International (JTI), British American Tobacco (BAT), Philip Morris International (PMI) and Richmond Tobacco Trading. Two-thirds of these inserts were collected from packs marketed in Russia (66 %), with the remainder collected from Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine and Vietnam. However, this practice is common in the United States, which was not included in the sample.

Loyalty through promotional actions and remote relationship services

Regarding the content of the messages, nearly 38 % directed consumers to a commercial website and 21 % to a telephone number. Nearly 22 % of these inserts mentioned the filter and 7 % mentioned a flavor capsule. When a promotion was offered, it could be a prize to be won (13 %), a sum of money (12 %) or trips (nearly 10 %). Beyond the themes of product quality (63 %) and luxury/social ambition (55 %), a wide range of themes and imagery was used, referring to technology (37 %), urban or rural landscapes (16 %), nature (14 %), aromas and flavours (13 %) and health (7 %). 58 % of the inserts included a health warning, but in 59 % of the cases, this warning did not comply with the legislation in force in the country of sale. With or without a health warning, advertising vignettes are, however, in principle not authorised in countries that have banned advertising for tobacco products, regardless of the medium.

A closer relationship with the consumer at a reduced cost

The authors consider that this use of advertising vignettes is primarily designed to circumvent legislation on tobacco advertising. It also constitutes low-cost marketing, which allows for a more rapid response than would be required by intervention on the packaging itself and which offers the possibility of direct interaction with the consumer ("one-to-one business"). In fact, the language used often uses the second person and invites action. The orientation towards websites and telephone numbers prolongs the commercial relationship by making it more intimate. These inserts thus aim to make the consumer experience more intense, to increase the frequency of consumption and above all to build customer loyalty.

The authors propose not only to counter this practice, but also to take it up on the public health account. In countries that are not yet in compliance with the FCTC on this point, amendments to advertising legislation will be necessary to clearly stipulate that no advertising support is tolerated for tobacco products. However, the authors suggest requiring manufacturers to insert in the packages – preferably neutral and standardized – inserts containing validated public health messages, which would thus reach consumers more closely.

Keywords: advertising inserts, cigarette packets

©Tobacco Free Generation

M.F.

[1] Spillane TE, Madar A, Cohen JE, Welding K, Clegg Smith K, Tobacco companies' creation of additional communication space: a content analysis of cigarette pack inserts and onserts, Tobacco Control, Published Online First: 28 June 2023. doi: 10.1136/tc-2023-057982

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