The tobacco industry used the World Cup to promote its products

A report from Vital Strategies[1] showed how the tobacco and vaping industry used social media in Indonesia, India and Mexico to promote their products during the World Cup in Qatar. The report said some tobacco companies created collectible cigarette packs for the World Cup, capitalised on the fame of star footballers such as Lionel Messi to promote their products and partnered with sports clubs to promote e-cigarettes.

The analysis is based on three months of data collected by Vital Strategies’ digital media monitoring system, the Tobacco Enforcement and Reporting Movement (TERM), between September 15 and December 31, 2022. The data was collected from publicly available posts on social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The analysis was limited to content in English, Hindi, Indonesian, and Spanish. Some accounts and posts that were created specifically for the World Cup were deleted after a few days and were therefore not included in the monitoring platform. These “disappearing posts” suggest that the scale of the advertising phenomenon is likely underestimated.

Social networks are the preferred vectors for the dissemination of tobacco advertising during the football World Cup

During the study period, 354 posts featuring tobacco and/or vaping products were identified on social media in the three countries monitored. The overwhelming majority of these ad insertions came from Indonesia (92 %), followed by India (6 %) and Mexico (2 %). Three-quarters of these ads were found on the Instagram network. This predominance in Indonesia is explained by the fact that the country is the only one in the Asia-Pacific region that has not ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which includes a ban on advertising tobacco products. Indonesia does not have such legislation, giving the tobacco industry free rein to promote its products.

In Indonesia, the ads were mainly and directly distributed by tobacco manufacturers. In India, the ads came from subsidiaries owned by the tobacco industry but were not always for tobacco products but rather for confectionery or snack brands owned by the tobacco industry. In Mexico, the ads were mainly distributed on social media by e-cigarette manufacturers and retailers of these products.

In Indonesia, World Cup viewing parties that were aimed at all types of audiences were sponsored by football brands associated with tobacco companies. These events were promoted on social media to the general public by non-football community accounts, including entertainment centers and national convenience store chains that hosted the match viewings. The screenings were sponsored by tobacco company Gudang Garam’s Intersoccer brand and Djarum’s, a maker of clove-flavored kretek cigarettes that is popular in the country. The latter has a brand called “Super Soccer” that has over 336,000 followers on Instagram and nearly 1 million on Twitter. The brand, which has been active for years, identifies itself as the “home of football fans in Indonesia” and promotes its activities on social media. The events featured limited edition Djarum World Cup cigarette packs. These collector packs were designed by local artists. Instagram account Super Soccer promoted the limited edition Djarum cigarette packs for the World Cup by sharing videos of the artists who created them.

Using football stars to directly promote products

In Mexico, online retailers have promoted e-cigarettes using images of soccer players and offering price promotions. A digitally altered image of the national team’s goalkeeper, Guillermo Ochoa, was used to promote e-cigarette use. The association of celebrities with tobacco products is a well-known strategy to glamorize and encourage their use. During the 2018 World Cup, a bidi manufacturer in India promoted a line of products called “Messi Biri,” which featured Messi’s image on the packaging, a popular player in the country.

Special editions for electronic cigarettes

GeekVape, a global e-cigarette brand popular in Indonesia, has partnered with Paris Saint-Germain. In the run-up to the 2022 World Cup, the brand launched a special edition of products, which were promoted on Indonesian social media. The e-cigarettes each featured a different flag from the countries participating in the competition. The brand also ran contests with products up for grabs, often involving guessing the final score of matches. Social media contests and giveaways, which often involve users following the account and tagging their peers, are used to drive engagement, recognition, and brand loyalty.

In Mexico, TERM observed numerous posts using the World Cup and soccer to promote e-cigarettes. These included several posts promoting World Cup-related price promotions on Maskking’s official store. Maskking is a disposable e-cigarette brand. These promotions also coincided with the November sales known as “El buen fin,” an annual nationwide shopping event.

The need for stronger social media monitoring to limit tobacco industry marketing

FIFA, the governing body of world football and the World Cup, banned tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship at tournaments in the late 1980s. However, in many countries, tobacco companies continue to use these games to promote their products at national and local levels. The report recommends that governments and social media companies take steps to prevent the promotion of these products, and that sports teams and stars distance themselves from tobacco and vaping industry marketing.

The authors of the report also point to the evolution of promotional practices in favor of new nicotine products, particularly electronic cigarettes. Several brands have established partnerships with very popular sports clubs.

Regular monitoring of digital platforms around major events such as the World Cup makes it possible to detect marketing trends deployed in particular by the tobacco industry. Such an observatory supports governments and public health stakeholders in better regulating advertising, promotion and sponsorship in favor of tobacco and other nicotine products.

Keywords: World Cup, Football, Indonesia, marketing, tobacco, vaping, Mexico, India

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[1] Vital Strategies. Tobacco Marketing and Football: A Losing Game. New York, NY; 2023. Available from: termcommunity.com/ Tobacco Marketing and Football A Losing Game