Tobacco Advertising Techniques
Advertisers for all kinds of products use a variety of techniques to influence consumers to buy their products. This discussion indicates some of the specific ways these techniques are used to advertise tobacco products.

• Brand Loyalty: an ad that portrays a group of people who are loyal users of a product and would not consider switching to another brand. Currently, many generic brands of cigarettes are marketed under the label of "value brands." At the same time, other tobacco companies are lowering the prices of their brand-name cigarettes to compete with low-cost value brands.
• Bandwagon: gives the impression that everyone is using this product or doing this activity. Tobacco ads that show several people having fun smoking demonstrate this approach. Advertisers hope that people will buy their products to avoid feeling left out.
• False Image: Images of impossible or near-impossible feats of strength and speed. Tobacco ads feature healthy looking people who apparently have smoked for years--perhaps the ultimate false image.
• Free Stuff: Product comes with coupons that can be redeemed for merchandise. For example, Camel cigarettes come with "Camel Cash," which can be redeemed for jackets, hats, shirts, etc., that bear the Camel logo. Promotional coupons may become worthless, however, if Congress approves the settlement negotiated between the tobacco industry and the federal government.
• Great Outdoors: images and sounds of nature-a lake or stream, waterfall, beach, mountain views, etc., are associated with using the product. Buyers may think they will experience these scenic vistas by purchasing this product. The Marlboro Country ads were the epitome of this strategy. Ironically, the model who portrayed the Marlboro Man in those ads died from smoking-induced lung cancer.
• Humor: an ad that is funny and makes people laugh. People might assume that laughter, good times and the products all go together. Billboards that feature cigarettes show models that are all smiles!
• Modeling: physically attractive and socially sophisticated models are shown using the product. Some consumers may think they will become like those models when they use the product. On a related note, middle school students who decide to try chewing tobacco because they have seen their favorite professional baseball players using it are demonstrating the effectiveness of modeling. Another irony-because smoking causes premature wrinkling of the skin, particularly around the eyes and lips, professional models in these ads do not smoke in real life-it could mean unemployment!
• Nothing But the Positive: ads that provide a one-sided story about the product, using words such as wonderful, new and improved, the best, and ignoring any negative aspects. If tobacco ads presented the other side, they would feature hospital beds filled with patients gasping for breath while loved ones and doctors look on helplessly. Grandpa would be shown at home with his portable oxygen supply nearby. A person who had a larynx removed because of cancer and who now has to breathe through a stoma in the throat would be shown trying to take a shower without drowning.
• Science: Some potential customers are swayed by impressive statistics. The studies that supposedly produced the statistics, however, are not identified. It is, therefore, not possible to find out the facts for yourself. Many cigarettes were originally advertised as being recommended by doctors, before we knew the truth about their health affects.
• Status: has two approaches-the down-home version and the snob version. The down-home version features an ordinary person using the product. The consumer may identify with that person and be influenced to buy the product. The opposite of the down-home approach, the snob version uses scenes of exclusive country clubs, expensive cars and butlers with affected British accents. The tobacco companies have divided status into additional areas for marketing purposes, including:
  • Income status: Because teens have little money, cheap generic cigarettes are marketed as value brands. American Tobacco is currently marketing a value-brand cigarette called Misty to young women who are just beginning their professional careers. This cigarette is considered a "fashionably inexpensive" alternative to Virginia Slims.
  • Educational Status: Cigarette companies know that people with more formal education are less likely to smoke. R.J. Reynolds is marketing cigarettes such as Dakota to a group they describe as "virile females"-18-20 year-old women with little formal education who are working in predominantly male blue-collar jobs. Magna and Bull Durham cigarettes are likewise marketed to men with little formal education.
  • Ethnic Status: R.J. Reynolds tried unsuccessfully to market a brand called Uptown to urban minorities. After their marketing strategy was made public, Reynolds discontinued the test marketing.
  • Gender Status: Philip Morris Tobacco Company is marketing Superslims, a super-thin, low-smoke cigarette, to sophisticated women who are concerned about their weight.
• Testimonial: celebrities state that a particular product is their personal choice. Many celebrities, however, do not actually use the products they endorse.
• We Care About You: ads developed by companies that claim to be interested in solving social problems while promoting their product. For example, many tobacco companies run ads that are really editorials, which make it appear they are very concerned about teenagers smoking. The piece goes on at great length to convey the message that smoking is only for adults. Even without the services of Joe Camel, tobacco companies continue to market aggressively to youth. An example is the selling of very inexpensive cigarettes, so-called "value brands," which are really generic cigarettes, to young people who may have less money to spend than adults.

The Truth about Labels

• United States: Since 1984, four rotating warnings have been required on cigarette packages and advertisements, prefaced with the words Surgeon General s Warning. Smokeless tobacco products also have warning labels.
• Canada: The federal Tobacco Products Control Act (1988) required that all cigarette packages display a warning that would take up at least 25 percent of the front and back of the package. By September 1994, eight rotating warnings had been introduced.
• Japan: The polite, "For the sake of your health, please do not smoke too much," was replaced in the 1990s with a slightly stronger warning.
• Sweden: Sweden has 16 rotating health warnings (13 for cigarettes), which are changed every few years. The fifth set, which was introduced in 1991, included the warnings listed on the transparency.
• Ireland: Ireland has only two warnings.
• Chile: At this time, fifteen Latin American countries have enacted legislation to discourage the use of cigarettes by adolescents and children. Thirteen of those countries have restricted the kind of advertising that targets young people. In six Latin American countries, it is illegal to sell tobacco products to minors.

Influence of Peers, Family and Self Esteem

Peers, siblings, friends, and even parents can have great influence over adolescent decisions to use tobacco. The most common situation for taking a first smoke is with a friend.

Low socioeconomic status, low academic performance, and limited school involvement are also associated with increased risk for tobacco use. Low self-esteem, the belief that tobacco serves a purpose (makes them appear cool…), and lack of social skills (especially refusal skills) are individual risk factors for tobacco use.

Environmental Influences
Environmental influences include the ease of access to tobacco products. Two-thirds of adolescents report never being asked for proof of age when purchasing cigarettes. The perception that "everyone" does it or that significant individuals approve its use also contributes to tobacco use. Lack of parental support or supervision can also be a contributing factor. Prevalent use of tobacco in the adult community and pervasive presence in media and community life (sports events…) reinforce the adolescent s perception that everyone does it, it is acceptable, and it is not really harmful.