I REFER to the letter from Hayley Kan of the Tobacco Institute of Hong Kong (South China Morning Post, December 26), concerning tobacco advertising.
No doubt, the dynamics of smoking are complicated. While it may not have been proven that there is a definite cause-effect relationship between advertising and smoking, there is strong circumstantial evidence. It should be recognised that cigarette advertising's cultural function is much more than the selling of cigarettes. The images of cigarette advertising are a catalogue of social identities, each matched through market research to the anxieties and aspirations of different sections of the market, especially teenagers.
The Smee Report, published in London, by Her Majesty's Stationary Office, in 1993, confirmed that tobacco advertising both induces and reinforces children's smoking. Cigarette advertising is disproportionately effective with young smokers. Teenagers buy the most heavily promoted cigarettes. Children who are aware of tobacco advertising and those who approve are also more likely to be smokers. Images that children derive from advertising encourage them to smoke. Since a child's intention to smoke is considered to be a good predictor of future smoking behaviour, it seems reasonable to conclude that a belief in the psychological benefits of smoking, derived from advertising, precedes and contributes to the adoption of smoking. No one with a sound mind would argue that smoking is good for our health. It then goes without saying that it is our obligation to protect our younger generation from receiving unnecessary exposure to messages that induce them to a lethal habit.
The recent withdrawal of the Embassy Regal 'Reg' advertising campaign in England and Scotland, as reported in the British Medical Journal in October 1994, demonstrated the power of advertisements in influencing young people. Although it was claimed that this advertisement aimed at only people aged over 35, it was found that it got through to children more effectively than to adults. Through a complaint by the Health Education Authority, the tobacco company had to withdraw this advertising campaign.
Two local studies carried out by the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, also supported the impact cigarette advertisements have on teenage smoking. A study by the Department of Community Medicine of the University of Hong Kong, strongly indicated that children's smoking habits were influenced by tobacco promotional activities and advertisements. The findings of the report on Cigarette Advertisement and Juvenile Smoking Behaviour, by the Department of Marketing of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, clearly indicated that cigarette advertising has a significant effect on the cigarette smoking propensity among local juveniles, even when other variables are controlled.
In its Action Plan on Tobacco or Health for 1995-1999, the World Health Organisation Regional Office for the Western Pacific calls for all governments to implement comprehensive tobacco control measures by 1999. These include a call for a 'tobacco-advertising free region by the year 2000', as part of comprehensive legislation on tobacco or health.
