Worry as firms try to foil cigs ad ban
Tobacco companies scrutinised
Stirling MSP Bruce Crawford has described as “very concerning” a report which suggests tobacco companies are undermining the spirit of the advertising ban.
A University of Stirling led study found that cigarette manufacturers are offering retailerfags incentives to promote their products.
The research discovered that rewards, such as cash bonuses, iPads and hospitality, are being provided to small businesses that attempt to boost sales of their brands.
One retailer in Stirling city centre told the Observer that he often receives cash and carry vouchers from tobacco companies in return for selling large amounts of their product.
He also said that he was encouraged to offer a certain alternative should the product requested by a customer be outof-stock or unavailable.
As part of the study, which also involved St Andrews and Edinburgh Universities, 24 small independent tobacco retailers, including newsagents and petrol stations, were interviewed following the ban on open display of tobacco in Scotland two years ago.
Retailers reported being offered a range of incentives in return for preferential practices – which included retaining a tobacco unit, positioning products to maximise prominence, a push on sales, trialling new stock and particular brand promotions.
As part of one promotion retailers were even told they would be visited by a mystery shopper who would ask for a rival brand.
Retailers who instead recommended another product that the company wished to promote would receive a lump sum as reward.
Mr Crawford MSP spoke highly of the work carried out by researchers conducting the study.
He said: “The ban on displaying tobacco products in shops has been phased in over a period of time with the intent to protect public health and discourage younger people from picking up a highly harmful habit.
“I highly commend the hard work carried out by the University of Stirling, St Andrews, and Edinburgh on this subject, however reports that tobacco firms appear to be undermining the spirit of a ban that is widely supported and in the public interest is very concerning.”
The lead author of the report was Martine Stead, deputy director of the institute of social marketing at the University of Stirling, and she said: “The tobacco industry has, for many years, incentivised retailers to stock and sell tobacco, and to display particular brands prominently on their shelves.
“We might have expected that these practices would decline following the ban on open displays because customers can no longer see the products. However, our study suggests that is not the case.
“The tobacco companies rely on retailers even more to promote tobacco now that displays are covered up. They are still offering them payments and rewards, including substantial lump sums to make verbal recommendations to customers to try a particular brand.”
The researchers acknowledged that using incentives to drive sales within the tobacco industry is not new, but they found companies are now adapting practices to work within the context of the display ban.
They wrote: “The rationale for bans on tobacco promotions and displays at point of sale is to reduce the ability of tobacco companies to exploit the retail environment in this way.
“However, this study demonstrates that display bans do not prevent [them] from attempting to exert influence on retailers via their sales reps.”
The study suggests the practice could be ended by introducing a complete ban on company payments to retailers, reducing the number of shops selling tobacco in any given area, banning sales near schools and offering retailers incentives to stop selling tobacco.
The research paper, Tobacco companies’ use of retailer incentives after a ban on point-ofsale tobacco displays in Scotland, is published in the British Medical Journal’s Tobacco Control Journal.