British American Tobacco: Advertising

As the British American Tobacco Company is the second largest tobacco company, behind Phillip Morris [[1] (http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/2002Q4/bat.html)], advertising is key in its success. The British American Tobacco Company, otherwise known as BAT, is recognized worldwide through its cigarette brands, which include Benson and Hedges and Dunhill [[2] (http://www.ameinfo.com/49811.html)]. BAT has sold hundreds of millions of cigarettes worldwide, and this is widely related to its extensive advertising and PR campaigns.

In many countries throughout the world, restrictions have been imposed on the advertising of tobacco products (http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/qofm/0201a.html), and this has resulted in BAT struggling to maintain awareness of their products. In 1971, the advertising of cigarettes was banned from television due to the belief it encouraged people to smoke, and disregarded the health problems related to it.

South Africa is a country that has been seen to be at the forefront of the cigarette advertisement ban. In 1993, the first legislation with regards to tobacco laws was passed. This was known as the Tobacco Control Act, and it resulted in cigarette packaging and other forms of tobacco advertising needing to display health warnings as well as smoking in public places being controlled and the prohibition of selling tobacco products to those under sixteen years old. Following this Act, South Africa introduced the Tobacco Control Amendment Act in 1999, and when it came into effect in October 2000, a “new era of public health” was well received by its population (www.multinationalmonitor.org/mm2001/01jan-feb/corp8.html). Although tobacco advertising was no longer permitted on television when these Acts came into effect, companies such as BAT had to find alternative methods in reaching the public. They did this through the use of the radio, but after a while, free air time was allocated to put out warnings about the danger of tobacco to people’s health. This consequently led to the public calling for tougher regulations on the issue and the law was revised in their favour, resulting in a complete ban of tobacco advertising (www.multinationalmonitor.org/mm2001/01jan-feb/corp8.html).

As this advertising ban meant that the British American Tobacco company could no longer reach the South African public through these popular mediums, it meant they had to raise awareness of their products in another way. Cleverly, they devised the idea of a competition with a cash prize or a trip on the “first commercial spaceship, redeemable within the next two years” after the competition. Those who entered the competition had to give their names, which were entered into BAT’s database, and used in the future for promotional purposes (www.multinationalmonitor.org/mm2001/01jan-feb/corp8.html).

Advertising costs are high, and for companies including BAT, this is why it is vital that they are as effective as possible. The British American Tobacco Company, like many other international corporations, relies heavily on support from the government. The Director of BAT is Ken Clarke, who was formerly the Health Secretary for the Conservative Party (www.ash.org.uk/html/press/050428.html) and it is with the aid of the government that the tobacco industry continues to thrive. As the dangers of tobacco are widely known, the government could put a complete ban on the products, but as they benefit financially from them, this is unlikely to happen. In Britain, it was not until 1991 that a complete tobacco advertisement ban was issued with regard to the television, but non television advertisements were continually allowed until in 1997, the Labour Government promised to introduce a complete ban of the promotion of the products. The Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act 2002 was the result of this promise (http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2002/20020036.html). Exceptions allowed under this Act are those advertisements that are not aimed at specific kinds of people within the British population and advertisements within shops, pubs or clubs that promote the products on an area no larger than A5 paper and that include government and health warnings on at least thirty percent of it (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4113297.stm).

Before the 2002 Act was passed, it was claimed that in order to get around the advertising ban on television, and later on radio, the British American Tobacco Company engaged in direct marketing tactics. This meant that products such as cigarettes were handed out to individuals in order to raise awareness of their particular brands, and this is still found to occur in British society today. BAT have often been criticised for not only underplaying the health dangers linked to their products, but also for targeting specific areas of the population, especially young people. BAT dispute this idea, and argue that their aim is not to do this but rather their company is about “offering quality brands to adults who have already taken the decision to smoke” (www.bat.com).

In gaining support of the government for tobacco products, it has been recognized that the British American Tobacco Company have funded political campaigns. Studies have shown that in 2004, in the run up to the election, almost $3 million was spent on candidates in the U.S. election and in this, George Bush received $168, 145, in comparison to $21, 050 received by his opponent John Kerry (www.guardian.co.uk/weblog/special/0,10672,540943,00.html). The idea behind this funding of political campaigns is that when someone is elected, they will perhaps mention where they received money, which would in turn lead to a degree of recognition from the public, but also, there is the belief amongst tobacco companies, including BAT, that as they have aided political figures gain power, they will help them in return by supporting their products. Abrie du Plessis, a spokesperson for BAT, explains why the company funds various aspects within politics and in doing so, raises awareness of their products. He claims, “We want to have a constructive relationship with government. It’s almost as if the culture of smoking is being blamed on corporations, as if smoking is a phenomenon created by multinationals and perpetuated by advertising. We don’t believe this, because before multinationals, people smoked” (www.multinationalmonitor.org/mm2001/01jan-feb/corp8.html).

Sponsorship of sport is yet another way in which the British American Tobacco Company avoids the restrictions on advertising, and is connected largely to the sponsorship of Formula 1 Racing (www.bjm.bjmjournals.com/cgi/content/full/329/7457/104). When BAT initially became involved in Formula 1 in 1970, they sponsored Yardley, who were with the BRM team, but as time progressed, they became involved with other teams and this continued until 1974, when they no longer involved themselves in the sponsorship of the sport (www.grandprix.com/gpe/spon-028.html). After a period of time away from Formula 1, BAT returned to it in 1983 in order to continue with the promotion of their company and its products. BAT’s sponsorship of this masculine orientated sport is a means of targeting young men and boys and raising their awareness of the tobacco industry, and in doing this, it reaches them in an effective manner (www.bjm.bjmjournals.com/cgi/content/full/329/7457/104). Through the extent of the media coverage Formula 1 receives, the British American Tobacco Company has become recognizable on a global scale, and also as a result of their sponsorship, the company was able to reach all age groups in society through their merchandising of a range of Formula 1 related products, which bore the BAT logo.

As a result of the continuing regulations and restrictions imposed upon the tobacco industry, BAT, along with two other leading international tobacco companies, Phillip Morris and JT International, joined forces in 2001 in order to tackle what they regarded as a constraint. They worked alongside the International Marketing Standards and together, aimed to meet these standards set and “build on existing principles” (www.bat.com). As previously mentioned, these companies are frequently criticised for targeting specific groups, especially young people, through advertising and other forms of marketing they engage in, but the British American Tobacco Company opposes this idea and argues that through working with the International Marketing Standards, they are trying to combat this belief (www.bat.com).

In light of health groups laying blame for a number of illnesses and diseases on the tobacco industry, BAT has tried to overcome many of the negative beliefs associated with them. In doing so, BAT’s official website demonstrates how they have been actively involved in campaigns in Europe and other areas such as Japan, which promote the idea that young people should not smoke (www.bat.com). In conjunction with Phillip Morris and JT International, BAT has spent $3.6 million on trying to overcome the belief that they target their products at young people. A large proportion of this money spent by the three international corporations was on an advertising campaign showing on MTV in thirty eight European countries between April and July 2001 (http://www.ash.org.uk/html/advspo/html/mtveurope.html). These ideas aimed to perpetuate the idea that in order to be ‘cool’ and popular amongst their peer group, it was not necessary for teenagers to smoke. Campaigns like the one transmitted on MTV, portray the idea that the British American Tobacco Company is a socially responsible company, but in reality, the company uses this idea of corporate social responsibility as a front, and through this, they conceal many of the known dangers from the public by claiming their products are “credible” and that dangers although exist, are in BAT’s view, over-exaggerated (www.bat.com).

As can be seen through the various advertising and promotional methods used by the British American Tobacco Company, the awareness of their products, as well as their success, is largely reliant upon this. Due to numerous regulations that have been imposed worldwide restricting the advertising of tobacco products, BAT have had to devise other methods, such as sponsorship and competitions, and it is through these alternative forms of advertising that they maintain their international success.