Indirect tobacco advertising and promotion

Indirect forms of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship are diverse and abundant and may consist in, for example, promotional discounts, brand stretching, brand sharing, free distribution of tobacco and tobacco products, product placement, appearance of tobacco products in films, sponsored events, display of tobacco products at points of sale and vending machines.

In the WHO European Region, the regulation of indirect forms of tobacco advertising and promotion can be considerably strengthened. In fact, to date, only three WHO European countries have banned all forms of indirect advertising, with the exception of display and visibility of tobacco products at points of sale which is solely banned in Ireland.

The regulation for product placement, free distribution of tobacco products, vending machines, national sponsored events and promotional discounts is encouraging but should be further developed within all WHO European countries. Strong efforts are also needed to reinforce the ban on appearance of tobacco products in TV and/or films, brand stretching and brand sharing. The WHO European Region is particularly weak in the regulation for display and visibility of tobacco products at points of sale.

The European Union (EU) countries and the Newly Independent States (NIS) countries stand out from the regional average for some indirect forms of tobacco advertising and promotion. The NIS countries exceed the regional average for the ban on vending machines but there is an opportunity for improvement on the ban on promotional discounts and product placement. The EU countries are above the regional average regarding the ban on promotional discounts, on free distribution, on product placement and sponsored events but there is an opportunity for improvement in the appearance of tobacco products in TV and/or films as well as vending machines.