Resources

This collection of reports investigates tobacco marketing at points-of-sale (POS) near schools in a total of 15 countries around the world. Numerous studies have demonstrated that exposure to tobacco product advertising and promotion increases the likelihood that youth will start to smoke. Evidence shows that the tobacco industry responds to partial TAPS bans that regulate only certain types of TAPS strategies (such as television or radio) by re-directing their resources to market their brands on poorly regulated channels such as the POS.

Global cigarette volume sales are declining, but the sales of flavored cigarettes in Latin America are climbing.  Flavored cigarettes appeal directly to youth and non-smokers because they mask the harsh taste of tobacco smoke and ease initiation into smoking. This report describes a study that examined cigarette retailers within a radius of 100 -250 meters around schools in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru, and their sale and promotion of flavored cigarettes.

All countries benefit from protecting their citizens from the harms of tobacco use and reducing its economic toll on national economies. The aim of the Sustainable Development Agenda, and its 17 global goals, is to ensure that "no one is left behind."

The tobacco industry increasingly uses the cigarette pack as a key marketing method. The Tobacco Pack Surveillance System (TPackSS) project collected packs from 14 low- and middle-income countries to study compliance with health warning label (HWL) laws and the marketing appeals used in pack designs. These fact sheets show HWL compliance.