Flat screen, yes please - logos, no thanks

Eric Lindblom, Research Director of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, on the tobacco industry's new marketing tools. WW: How have the advertising practices of tobacco companies in the USA changed in recent years?
Eric Lindblom: You set
significantly more direct mail, which is sent to the massively increased
database of smokers. The Internet is also being increasingly
used for this purpose. RJ Reynolds, for example, recently had an internet promotion,
a large flat screen TV was awarded. A lot
Marketing is carried out with the help of price offers, according to the pattern,
buy two packs of cigarettes and get one free.
Or you get a radio or a sweater as a gift. As long as
there is no cigarette logo on it, it is not prohibited.

WW: Is magazine advertising still used?
Lindblom: Yes,
There are no specific bans on magazine advertising, except
that no young people may be addressed. A court
ruled that magazines that attract a large number of young readers are
are not allowed to place tobacco advertisements, but there are always
again. I have only recently seen ads in People Magazine or
Rolling Stone seen.

WW: Do companies adhere to the general ban on marketing for
Teenagers?
Lindblom: Not
necessarily, because the tobacco promotions in the stores themselves are also
be seen by children. For a while, it was forbidden to show advertising in
within a radius of 1000 meters of a school, but these
regional rules are often reversed by national laws
done.

Interview: Gerti Schön