Japan
Tobacco leads the way
Tobacco Ads Return
At the beginning of summer, Canadians received
good and bad news about tobacco marketing. The good news was that
the Supreme Court had upheld the federal law restricting tobacco
promotions (the 1997 Tobacco Act). The bad news was that this,
ironically, hailed a resurgence of tobacco ads in Canada.
The major tobacco companies had strategically
restrained from advertising while their constitutional challenge to the
federal law was before the courts (they had argued that the law was so
strong that it was, in effect, a total ban: running ads during this period
would have undermined this argument). Once the court made its ruling, this
self-restraint was no longer needed.
Although some ads for Skoal and other
smokeless products as well as some sponsorship marketing until it was
phased out in 2003 (see earlier editions of
Filtertips), there was no apparent direct advertising for
tobacco products over the past decade.
Tobacco advertising is legal in Canada,
despite Canada's obligations under the Framework Convention on Tobacco
Control to implement a comprehensive ban in keeping with its
constitutional principles. The current federal law
restricts advertising to (a) print publications of a non-youth audience;
(b) direct mail to adults (c) advertisements in bars or places where youth
are not permitted. (More details can be found here).
Canadian health groups maintain that such a
ban is consistent with Canada's constitution, and
have called on the federal government to put one in place.
December 6,
The Montreal Mirror
December 6,
The Montreal Mirror
December 6,
The Montreal Mirror
December 6,
The Montreal Mirror
Despite the restrictions on tobacco
advertising, many Canadians report seeing tobacco ads. In March
2006, Health Canada commissioned a survey of Canadians' recall of tobacco
advertising. The study (available
from the Library of Canada) found that:
One
in five (19%) Canadians recall seeing tobacco advertising in the past few
months."
"More than a third (36%) of those
younger than 24 recall seeing ads" (but "Canadians over the age of 55 are
least likely to recall seeing ads.).
Among those who have seen ads,
they are most likely to recall seeing ads in magazines. (see graph below)
