What is cross-border TAPS?

Tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship (TAPS) is cross-border whenever the content created, uploaded or broadcast in one country may be consumed or shared in another, thereby crossing geographical borders. The service providers may also be located in a different country than the country where the service is provided. This content may also cross “digital” borders as access is not always effectively limited based on geographical location. Cross-border digital media consumption provides new and emerging channels through which the tobacco industry and those acting to further its interests can circumvent controls on TAPS. The entertainment media may cross borders through Internet-enabled devices (computers, smartphones, tablets, smart televisions) that:

a) Examples 

The tobacco industry once spent millions to have film producers feature specific tobacco brands and funded advertising campaigns for the latest films and their top stars. While this type of direct promotion and sponsorship in entertainment media is subject to tighter regulation in many countries that are Parties to the WHO FCTC, young people remain exposed to pro-tobacco imagery in a myriad of ways through the media they consume. Increasingly, as media consumption patterns change, due to the increased availability and affordability of internet and internet enabled devices, especially smart phones, this content is likely to be viewed online or through a streaming service.

It is the commercial nature of tobacco depictions in entertainment media – rather than personal speech that someone might post, for instance, on their own Facebook page – that is of utmost concern. Commercial content is not only that with direct/indirect ties to the tobacco industry, but any form of commercial entertainment media that includes tobacco depictions. The “Guidelines for implementation of Article 13” provide advice on effectively implementing a TAPS ban and state that “the depiction of tobacco in entertainment media products, such as films, theatre and games, is a form of tobacco advertising and promotion”

Below is a list of the type of TAPS with the potential for cross-border impact. This list is not exhaustive, as new forms of TAPS are evolving rapidly as the media landscape also changes. Links to “real world” examples of the types of TAP described are also included in the descriptions. Direct, paid ads on social media are perhaps the easiest and clearest form of TAPS to regulate, monitor and enforce, and they are not the primary source of TAPS exposure on these platforms. Popular social media channels and search engines have adopted policies that do not allow overt or direct promotion of tobacco products through paid advertisements. These polices are, however, incomplete, including loopholes such as not extending to tobacco industry campaigns or other corporate messages.

1. Digital media-sharing platforms
   • Direct product promotion through paid advertisements. Such direct promotion is often signalled through the inclusion of “Paid Sponsorship”, “Paid Partnership” or “#ad”.
   • Influencer promotions. The tobacco industry or those working to further its interests, incentivize or sponsor individuals to post content online featuring products or brands. Social media influencers often are trained on what brands to promote, when to post for maximum exposure and how to avoid posting content that looks like a staged advertisement. Strategies may also include organizing parties and contests with brand sponsorships and encouraging participants to post on their social media accounts. Influencers and individuals are often instructed to include specific hashtags when promoting products on social media posts. Example: TakeAPart has produced in-depth reporting of tobacco influencer marketing, including the images posted and the messages associated with different brands and products. https: //www.takeapart.org/wheretheressmoke/
   • Commercial promotions of posts by consumers of their own tobacco usage. Consumers who use tobacco products may share content that depicts tobacco use and may also comment directly on content that advocates tobacco consumption or recommends particular brands or products. Depending on the context, this may constitute legitimate expression. Other parties working in the interest of the tobacco industry can then choose to increase the reach of this content by paying digital media communication platforms to broadcast it to other audiences, turning these personal, legitimate expression posts into commercial promotions.
   • Event promotion. Participants or teams in an event are sponsored by tobacco companies and social media, and audiovisual-sharing platforms broadcast the event and/or images from the event. In the case of major sporting events such as motor racing, the reach can be global, as these events are widely broadcast, including in traditional media. Example: https: //exposetobacco.org/wp-content/uploads/TobaccoSponsorshipFormula-One-2021.pdf
   • Corporate and campaign promotions. Tobacco companies, or those working to further their interests, promote a corporate or campaign brand rather than a tobacco product brand and operate social media accounts that promote the corporate or campaign brand. Corporate promotion campaigns and actions portray tobacco companies as innovative performers and socially responsible actors, and often advance novel tobacco products as less harmful alternatives to traditional cigarettes, often despite a lack of independent scientific evidence to support such claims. Example includes the Philip Morris “Unsmoke” campaign: https: //landing.ggtc.world/dmdocuments/Dangers%20of%20Unsmoke%20Campaign_Final%20Version.pdf
   • Tobacco use depictions embedded in commercial content where those depictions are not legitimate expression. While the bulk of the content on social media is not commercial in nature, commercial content draws a high degree of user traffic (for example, music videos, short films, web series, etc.) or is linked to a content creator that generates revenue from user traffic and users purchasing products featured/reviewed. Music videos for example, are highly viewed and shared, and popular content on audiovisual-sharing sites, they are also a major global source of exposure to tobacco depictions. Example: Cranwell J, Opazo-Breton M, Britton J. Adult and adolescent exposure to tobacco and alcohol content in contemporary YouTube music videos in Great Britain: a population estimate. J Epidemiol Community Health 2016;70: 488-492 http: //dx.doi.org/10.1136/jech-2015-206402
   • Product integration. Tobacco companies, or those working to further their interests, work with producers, production companies and screenwriters in order to build storylines involving their products and integrate them seamlessly in their productions.
   • Sponsored news or infotainment content. The tobacco industry, or those working to further its interests, offers news/current affairs journalists or editors facility visits, pitch story ideas, or sponsor news stories, on related or unrelated topics. Example: https: //www.theguardian.com/media/2020/nov/19/philip-morris-sponsored-articles-in-the-australian-could-breach-tobacco-advertising-laws
   • Device advertising promotion and sponsorship. Advertising or promotion of a device or devices that enable the consumption of tobacco products, may directly or indirectly advertise or promote tobacco products themselves.
2. Tobacco companies and those working to further their interests operate social media accounts and websites with content that is broadcast across borders. These sites are frequently used not solely for legitimate expression, but also to promote the corporate brands of a company, to promote specific products or disseminate brand messaging under the guise of providing information to consumers, or as an exercise in so-called corporate social responsibility. Social networking sites and corporate websites are used by the tobacco industry to reinvent itself as a modern, socially responsible, sustainable industry and to dissociate itself from the harm caused by its products. Examples: Foundation for a Smoke Free World: https: //tobaccotactics.org/wiki/foundation-for-a-smoke-free-world/ PMI use of Facebook: https://www.phrp.com.au/issues/september-2019-volume-29-issue-3/philip-morris-internationals-use-facebook-undermine-australian-tobacco-control-laws/ The Dominant Ones, an online show available on YouTube presented by PMI Mission Winnow: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheDominantOnes/featured
3. Films, movies, television and streaming content are significant sources of tobacco depictions. Content that is appealing to young people, such as reality television programming, has been found to contain high amounts of tobacco depictions. Example: Barker AB, Opazo Breton M, Cranwell J, et al Population exposure to smoking and tobacco branding in the UK reality show ‘Love Island’. Tobacco Control 2018;27: 709-711. https: //tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/27/6/709 This online database of movies details the incidence of tobacco use: https://smokefreemedia.ucsf.edu/sfm-media
4. Streaming television programmes. With viewership of traditional television decreasing, and online streaming and paid subscription increasing, streamed content is a growing source of tobacco promotion. Globally, young people (aged 18–34 years) are much more likely to be Internet and smartphone users compared with those aged 35 and older; this age-related difference is found across high- and lower-income countries. Tobacco depictions in popular streamed content are more prevalent than in traditional broadcast or cable programming. Examples: Detailed report and analysis showing that a global streaming giant’s programmes depicted more smoking imagery than broadcast shows. https: //truthinitiative.org/research-resources/tobacco-pop-culture/while-you-were-streaming-smoking-demand Barker AB, Smith J, Hunter A, et al Quantifying tobacco and alcohol imagery in Netflix and Amazon Prime instant video original programming accessed from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: a content analysis BMJ Open 2019;9:e025807. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-025807 https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/2/e025807
5. Video/computer games. Both packaged and online video games are popular among young people and very few controls are in place to protect/prevent users from being exposed to tobacco depictions embedded within games or in-game/in-app purchases. Age restrictions may not take tobacco use into account and are easily skirted by younger payers. Example of games featuring tobacco use are detailed here: https: //truthinitiative.org/research-resources/tobacco-pop-culture/some-video-games-glamorize-smoking-so-much-cigarettes-can
6. Smartphone applications. Some smartphone applications, or apps as they are popularly known, show images of cigarette brands or images that resemble existing brands. Pro-smoking apps include a cartoon game and an opportunity to simulate the smoking experience with high-quality, free apps or apps that facilitate the sale of tobacco products, as well as novel and emerging tobacco products, including devices designed for consuming such products. Example: BinDhim NF, Freeman B, Trevena L. Pro-smoking apps for smartphones: the latest vehicle for the tobacco industry? Tobacco Control 2014;23:e4 http: //dx.doi.org/10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2012-050598 This online gallery of collected examples of TAPS is a useful resource for further exploration of the type of content described above: https://www.trinketsandtrash.org/index.php