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According to a recent report released just in time for World No-Tobacco Day on Friday, tobacco companies have reduced their advertisements in traditional media, but are looking to step up their presence on the Internet. The Beijing Centre for Disease Control and Prevention compiled the report after monitoring 32 TV channels, 91 newspapers and magazines, and various Internet media, including commercial websites and micro blogs.
Of the TV channels monitored, researchers found tobacco advertisements were broadcast 117 times on two channels from May 13 to May 19 this year, compared with 678 times on 19 channels from May 18 to May 24 in 2009. The TV stations monitored were 15 channels of China Central Television, 11 channels of Beijing TV and six provincial television channels.
"These ads are indirect promotions of tobacco manufacturers, because direct ads for tobacco products in traditional media are strictly prohibited by the Advertisement Law," said Liu Xiurong, director of the center's health department.
The law, formulated in 1994, banned tobacco advertisements on five types of traditional media — radio, TV, movies, newspapers and magazines.
It also forbids tobacco ads in public areas such as waiting rooms, theaters, meeting halls and sports venues.
Liu said the law does not make it clear that indirect ads for tobacco brands should also be banned. Tobacco manufacturers are still taking advantage of this to air such promotions, such as when a channel of CCTV aired a promotion for Hongta Group, a tobacco manufacturer based in Yunnan.
Printed media, such as newspapers, have proved more successful in restricting tobacco advertisements compared with TV, with fewer advertisements reported in the same period, although the department found two direct tobacco ads in the printed media, which violated the Advertisement Law.
According to the law, the advertising of tobacco products in traditional media must cease, and violators of the law will forfeit commission for the advertisements and face fines from two times, but not exceeding five times, the commission fees.
