Advertising Alcohol and Tobacco

What Restrictions are there on Advertising Alcohol and Tobacco?

Surgeon General started restrictions in 1954 - this started with the warnings on cigarette packages, stating that smoking causes lung cancer. Restrictions were not as severe until later years since it was common for children to smoke or for businessmen to smoke and drink during a meeting in earlier years. In the 60's and 70's, people started to take legal actions. Cigarette commercials were banned from television and billboards, and streetcars could not post advertisements for cigarettes. The use of tobacco was banned on public transportation, and in some restaurants.

In 1965, congress passed a bill that all cigarette companies had to post a warning on the packages of their cigarette products. In 1970, a ban was put on televisions and radios that said they could not advertise cigarettes. In the late 90s, Formula One, a glamorous and expensive motor sport even began looking for new sponsors, because growing restrictions on advertising was causing cigarette companies to withdraw their sponsorship.

English: Smoking any tobacco product, %, Females

Advertising

Dunhill Early Morning Pipe Tobacco, 1990's Murray

As alcohol restrictive advertising is concerned at present, the most common form of advertising is what is called "lifestyle" advertising. The content of the ads focuses on the meaning and desirability of using alcoholic beverages, rather than about the product itself (Atkin, 1987; Aitkin et al., 1988; Atkin et al., 1983). These advertisements portray a generally positive picture of the effect of using alcohol, and associate, directly or indirectly, alcohol use with positive imagery, popular heroes, popular activities, and an affluent or fashionable lifestyle.

A summary taken from a case study conducted by the International Center for Alcohol Policies concluded that some form of "self-regulation" of advertising is widely practiced in many countries. Most countries that have self-regulation have specific codes concerning alcohol beverages and usually operate within some sort of...