JTI uses media platforms to illegally advertise their tobacco brands
Chapman M, Moeck F. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Tobacco Giant JTI placing stealth adverts for its brands on Facebook and Instagram. 25 April 2021
The world’s third largest multinational tobacco company, JTI, has been running disguised adverts for its brands on Facebook and Instagram, enabling it to bypass social media site rules and national laws in order to assist the marketing of cigarettes to teenagers and young people, the Bureau can reveal.
For example, “pages which are listed under “festival” and “community” in Facebook’s transparency section – use the fonts, color schemes, and imagery associated with the brands without making any affiliation explicit, a technique known as alibi marketing. The practice appears designed as a workaround to skirt both Facebook’s rules and the German law stating that it is “illegal to use promotional information that is likely to encourage juveniles and young adults to engage in [tobacco] consumption”.
NOTE: Deceptive tobacco marketing to youth using the internet is common and often disguised as event or community activities providing entertainment or services that youth enjoy. See examples in this report:
https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2021-04-25/tobacco-giant-jti-placing-stealth-adverts-for-its-brands-on-facebook-and-instagram
Stephen Hamann
