Federal government plans ban on cigarette advertising
The federal government is planning a comprehensive ban on cigarette advertising. The advertising industry is fighting back against being made a scapegoat. However, tobacco advertising accounts for less than 0.5 percent of the advertising market and is therefore of little significance to it.
Last year, the tobacco industry invested around CHF 21 million in the Swiss advertising market. These are gross figures, as Jens Windel from the market research company Media Focus explained when asked by the sda news agency on Friday. The sometimes considerable discounts granted as part of an advertising campaign are not yet included.
Bringing up the rear in advertising
This puts the tobacco industry at the bottom of the 24 sectors surveyed by Media Focus. In comparison: according to Windel, a gross amount of CHF 500 million is invested in food advertising each year. In total, spending on traditional advertising media such as TV, print, posters, radio and digital amounted to CHF 4.84 billion in Switzerland in 2013. The "10vor10" program on Swiss television SRF revealed on Thursday that the federal government is planning a comprehensive ban on advertising tobacco products. According to the preliminary draft for a new Tobacco Products Act, which is available to the news agency SDA, advertising in newspapers and magazines, on billboards, in electronic media, radio and television is to be banned. A ban is also planned for advertising campaigns in which cigarettes are sold at a reduced price. The Tobacco Products Act also provides for electronic cigarettes to be treated in the same way as cigarettes. However, sponsorship is still to be permitted, provided the event does not have an international character or cross-border impact. This would mean that open air events, at which cigarette manufacturers have a strong presence, would be exempt from the ban.
Lung League satisfied
The Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) was unable to say why the law leaves this access to a predominantly young audience open. How the future regulation should be structured is currently being examined, according to a request from the FOPH. The preliminary draft is currently being consulted with the authorities. Although sponsorship at open air events should continue to be permitted, the Lung League is satisfied with the direction of the preliminary draft. Advertising bans make sense because young people are tempted to smoke through advertising, said managing director Sonja Bietenhard to "10vor10".
The Swiss advertising industry is not happy: the cigarette industry has made great strides in recent years, said Thomas Meier from the Swiss Advertising Association when asked by SDA. "We support good youth protection, but we are against advertising being blamed for everything too quickly." Meier recalls the planned restrictions on advertising for small loans. The proportion of young people who get into debt in this way is very low, Meier points out. "People are pointing the finger at the advertising industry, but the onus should be on parents, for example," he said.
Declining income
Hanspeter Lebrument, President of the Swiss Media Association, rejects the advertising ban outright: "As long as smoking is not banned, it should be allowed to be advertised," he said. The preliminary draft is to be submitted for consultation in summer 2014. The consultation process for the planned increase in tobacco tax has already ended. The Federal Council wants to increase this not least because fewer and fewer people are smoking. These losses could only be compensated for in recent years with a steady increase in tobacco tax. (SDA)
