Federal Council wants to ban cigarette advertising altogether

According to the draft Tobacco Products Act presented on Wednesday, advertising will only be permitted at kiosks and vending machines as well as in specialist publications. The Federal Council wants to ban advertising on posters, in cinemas and in print and electronic media. Advertising campaigns in which cigarettes are sold at a reduced price would also no longer be permitted.

Although the Federal Council places the protection of young people in the foreground, according to its proposals, sponsorship is still permitted under certain conditions. This would mean that open air events, which are mainly frequented by young people, would be exempt from the ban.

Cigarette advertising on radio and television is already banned. Many cantons have issued a ban on advertising on posters, and in some cinemas it is already no longer permitted to advertise tobacco products. In several cantons, the sale of cigarettes to minors is also already prohibited.

Cinemas suffer in particular

Last year, the tobacco industry invested around CHF 21 million in the Swiss advertising market. Discounts as part of an advertising campaign are not included in this figure. This puts the tobacco industry at the bottom of the 24 sectors surveyed by Media Focus. By comparison, a gross amount of CHF 500 million is invested in food advertising each year. In total, expenditure on traditional advertising media such as TV, print, posters, radio and digital amounted to CHF 4.84 billion in Switzerland in 2013.

Cinemas, where advertising revenue from tobacco advertising accounts for almost six percent of total advertising revenue, would be severely affected by an advertising ban. The Federal Council's proposals for a new Tobacco Products Act will now go out for consultation. This will last until September 12, 2014 (SDA).