Aggressive passive smoking

22 May 2015 - 02:08 By Yolisa Mkele

In the late 1980s and early 1990s there was no escaping the vast advertising clout of major cigarette brands. Benson & Hedges was a major cricket sponsor, had the likes of Oasis band member Liam Gallagher naming his pets after the brand, and it had its logo on an F1 racing car.Rothmans placed its stamp on one the country's premier horse races, the Durban July.Those were the halcyon days of cigarette advertising.In the mid-1990s, the tide turned . Benson & Hedges fled South Africa and the sponsorship of sport events was taken over by banks as the country enacted a series of stringent laws banning tobacco companies from their traditional advertising spaces.Nearly 20 years since the last Benson & Hedges sponsored provincial cricket series, the brand has returned to a whole new playing field."Many of the marketing liberties enjoyed in the past are now regulated. For example we can no longer speak to consumers one-on-one," said British and American Tobacco's head of corporate communications in Southern Africa, Tabby Tsengiwe.On the surface, this has rendered many forms of advertising obsolete."Our marketing activities are limited to communication on price and availability at point of sale. In addition, before re-launching nationally, we ran a test market in Gauteng to gauge consumer interest in B&H," said Tsengiwe.But, in the world of marketing, rules are made to be flirted with. In 2010 Malboro ran one of the most audacious campaigns yet.Having already agreed to sponsor Ferrari, a raft of laws banning the company from putting its logo on the Ferrari livery went into effect - leaving them up the creek without a paddle. The marketing eggheads at Malboro attempted to sneakily sidestep this by putting a ''bar code" on the 2010 Ferrari and the team uniforms. The ''bar code" closely resembled a pack of Malboro cigarettes but the company denied any involvement.In South Africa, the young are targeted at parties at which only one brand of cigarette is available free. The kiosk at which they are sold is shiny, interesting and fronted by pretty girls. No one will try to foist anything on you but the allure of the lights is often enough to get you to investigate.Playing with legalities has brought an innovative edge to big tobacco's marketing arm.Just don't ask them about it because the best answer you'll get is Tsengiwe's: "Our marketing practices do not intend to attract new smokers but are targeted at the existing smoker base."..

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