India has just announced its first step in banning advertising of tobacco products from May 2004. This is a good time to take a look at the progress that other countries have achieved in this initiative.

Many may be aware that the U.K. Government has banned tobacco advertising from 2003, and is steadily driving forward towards a "comprehensive ban" by 2005 to phase out tobacco sponsorship at sports events and ban all forms of surrogate branding & retail displays.

Yet U.K. is no leader in this regard. Why, 8 EU member states have introduced bans many years before U.K.and these include Portugal and Sweden where approximately 10% of the population are smokers (as compared to 27% in U.K.). And there is Romania who introduced its first anti-smoking law as long back as 1978 ! Amongst other developed countries, Australia was one of the first to introduce bans on tobacco advertising. And certain states in Canada have already implemented laws to restrict display of tobacco products & billboards in retail stores !

Meanwhile, the effect of tobacco advertising on tobacco consumption continues to be a controversial issue. The basic logic of this school is that tobacco advertising is not designed to attract new consumers but to attract smokers from other brands. (However, there is no denying that a cigarette brand like Charms (India circa 1980) was targeted at first-time smokers like college students & young professionals. Or that U.S. cigarette brand Virginia Slims, created to make cigarette smoking "stylish" for women - was designed to make smoking acceptable to women. Or the simple fact that without new recruits, the universe of diminishing smokers would have become extinct by now !)

Tobacco Advertising Ban could actually increase Tobacco Consumption
One of the authoritarian studies in this field is by Michael J Stewart (Abbey Management Services, London, UK). His study is based on 27 years (1964 to 1990) data of private final consumption expenditure on tobacco collected from 22 OECD countries' statistical offices. By 1990, 6 of the OECD countries had already implemented a ban on tobacco advertising. His definitive conclusion based on statistical correlations: the study of tobacco consumption data showed no negative effect on consumption after implementing tobacco advertising ban, the advertising ban did not produce any reduction in tobacco consumption.

Mr Stewart has offered a significant argument, which is quantitative in nature-

• If health warnings in tobacco ads have some deterrent effect (else why have they been enforced by so many Governments?)
• And if tobacco advertising is designed primarily to make existing smokers change to other brands (the old logic again! )
• Then it is logical that the minimum space of each advertisement that is now required to be publish health warnings would also be done away with ! (In EC states, which mandate that at least 10 % of ad space be devoted to a health warning, this translates to millions of EC citizens being exposed to on-going, anti-smoking health warnings.) !

Thus Mr Stewart also concludes that abolishing tobacco advertising could actually increase tobacco consumption !

Children Do Not Necessarily Become Smokers After Seeing Likeable Cigarrette Ads
Another well-quoted reference in this field is by Prof. Sydney Houston High (London: Institute of Economic Affairs, 1999).

In addition to repeating the now familiar line that the goal of the tobacco advertiser is to induce customers to purchase the product of the advertiser in preference to the product of rival sellers. (This being so, according to the Professor, because tobacco is a "mature" product category.) Consequently, advertising does not serve to increase total consumption of tobacco products, but increases market share of the brand advertised at the expense of rivals.

A few new insights offered by Prof Houston :

• In OECD countries with advertising bans, the average adult is observed to consume approximately 3.3 % more than in those countries without advertising bans.
• Children recognize tobacco advertisements, may even like such ads, but most studies of children have pointed out that recognition is not consumption: although children recognize adverts, they may not necessarily consume tobacco as a result thereof.

Based on solid studies, Prof Houston also concludes that tobacco advertising has little relation to tobacco consumption.

Global Regulation of Tobacco Consumption
Despite opposition (mainly by the tobacco industry), the wheels of tobacco regulation are grinding slowly, but surely. And the contrary opinions on tobacco advertising ban notwithstanding, more & more nations are adopting tobacco regulation, starting with ban on advertising of tobacco products.

The FCTC adopts a framework convention (protocol) approach allows law-makers to progress incrementally, beginning with a framework convention that establishes a general system of governance for an issue, and then developing more specific commitments and institutional arrangements in protocols. This method which makes implementation of complex laws a smooth process, has been used with considerable success in other areas like environmental protection.

As more & more countries start adapting the framework, tobacco regulation is expected to evolve as a viable legislation over the next decade.