Tobacco Documents Online

S CIGARETTE ADVERTISING AND "TAR TIN " • Proponents of tobacco advertising bans claim that cigarette advertising is improperly "targeted" at racial minorities, women and Third World populations. • The "targeting" claim implies that women, racial minorities and people of less-developed nations are incapable of making their own decision and need to be "protected" by government censorship. • Not only is this attitude patronizing and paternalistic, it is not supported by data. • :`iinorlties • The insulting claim that African-Americans are particularly vulnerable" to cigarette advertising is not supported by data. According to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Surgeon General: black smokers tend to start smoking at an older age than white smokers. black smokers smoke fewer cigarettes per day. heavy smoking has been consistently more common among whites compared with blacks. until very recently smoking among blacks overall was declining at about the same rate as among whites in recent years, or, in some instances, was declining at a faster rate. • Patterns and trends in smoking among Hispanics do not suggest that Hispanics are "vulnerable" to cigarette advertising:" According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, based on several surveys, Hispanic women tend to smoke considerably less than blacks or whites, and Hispanic men, about the same rate as other men. Rogers & Cranks study:" Hispanic males are as likely to smoke as anglo males, but consume few cigarettes. Hispanic females seldom smoke compared to anglo females.

0 ("Ethnic Differences in Smoking Patterns: Findings from NHIS 1988). A Centers for Disease Control 1988 survey reported that overall prevalence of smoking was lower among Hispanics than among non-Hispanics. • The belief that minorities are peculiarly susceptible to cigarette advertising is not supported by data; it reflects a basic misunderstanding of advertising and an elitist attitude. «'omen • Cigarette advertising and promotion are not responsible for smoking among women, despite claims to the contrary. Smoking among women has been increasing in a number of countries where cigarette advertising is banned, yet decreasing in a number of countries where advertising is permitted. For example, in non-ban countries United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Denmark, Hong Kong and the United States, smoking incidence among women of most age groups has declined over the past several decades. By contrast, in ban and near-ban countries Finland, Norway, Sweden and Singapore, smoking incidence among women of most age groups has increased since imposition of the bans. • • In many countries where smoking is increasing, this is part of a general disintegration of sex-based stereotypes. As more and more women enter the workforce, the traditional family structures and consumption patterns are changing. • Trends in cigarette consumption are only one example of general disintegration of sex-based consumption patterns. Advertising reflects this, but is not responsible for it. • As women have entered the workforce in record numbers around the world, it has altered traditional family structures and consumption of consumer products. • Manufacturers of cars, electronic equipment and appliances, financial services companies, hotels and airlines have begun to solicit women for business. No one suggests that women are buying more cars, using credit cards more frequently or going

out of town on business because they are being "targeted" by advertisers. Advertising followed the market. • "[F)ar from being a moulder of society, [advertising] appears, for the most part, simply to reflect those attitudes and norms which prevail in a society at any given time." (John Jenkins, Tobacco Advertising and Children: Some Canadian Findings (1988). Less-developed countries • Studies show that advertising restrictions have had little if any effect on the level of cigarette consumption in less-developed countries. Factors such as urbanization, education and aging were found to be much more relevant. Dr. Eugene Lewit (New Jersey Medical School's National Bureau of Economic Research): "Evidence from a sample of LDCs suggests that the existence of advertising restrictions per se had little if any effect in trends or on the level of cigarette consumption." • Each country shows its own pattern of consumption and reasons why certain groups might smoke, e.g., "urbanization is pinpointed as a"cause" of women smoking in Africa; urbanization, aging, education and employment are thought to cause more women to smoke in Latin America.