The problem

Why does tobacco advertising attract the attention of society? What is the essence of the problem? It could seem that tobacco advertising is just one kind of advertising, that protests are directed against advertising in general, and that any advertising represents a problem. But a ban on tobacco advertising is not to be used as a pretext for the restriction of advertising as a whole. It could seem that the problem is irritation that could be caused by any kind of advertising - for instance, the advertising of feminine hygiene products greatly irritates some men, but they do not appeal for ban of this kind of advertising. It could seem that the claims against advertising tobacco as a product dangerous to one's health should be concurrent with claims against the advertising of other products considered to be potentially dangerous to one's health, such as automobiles, coffee, or hamburgers. However, the basic problem is not simply the effect of tobacco on one's health, but the magnitude of this effect. According to data provided by the World Health Organization, presently about five million people die of tobacco related diseases annually worldwide, including more than 100,000 in Ukraine. This huge loss justifies taking measures that, even to a small extent, can reduce it. Since the number of these deaths is proportional to the consumption of tobacco products, measures that reduce tobacco consumption are justified.

Sometimes the opinion is expressed that the tobacco advertising does not influence the total amount of tobacco consumption and serves only for competition among tobacco brands. Much research has been carried out in order to check this hypothesis. The results were generalized by the World Bank and the World Health Organization, and revealed that: 1) a decrease or increase in the total advertising volume has very little to do with the total consumption of tobacco products, especially in developed countries; 2) a comprehensive advertising ban reduces the consumption of tobacco. The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control provided the conclusion to this discussion. The final text of the Convention, unanimously approved by the World Health Assembly on May 21, 2003 by delegations from all countries including Ukraine, declares that: " Parties recognize that a comprehensive ban on advertising, promotion and sponsorship would reduce the consumption of tobacco products ". Thus, the basic problem is that the presence of tobacco advertising essentially worsens the health of the population.

Another pressing concern is that tobacco advertising actually promotes smoking among children and teenagers, therefore undermining the preventive efforts of government services. Whatever the tobacco industry may claim, it has to advertise cigarettes to children in order to survive, as it needs to replace those thousands of adult smokers that quit smoking or die.

Tobacco advertising is often paired with alcohol advertising, as is true in the law on advertising in Ukraine. Taking into account that, according to data provided by the World Health Organization, alcohol is not less harmful to one's health (for example, in the World Health Report of 2002, tobacco takes fourth place among the major factors of death, and alcohol takes fifth), the approach to alcohol advertising should not essentially differ from the approach to tobacco advertising. However, taking into account some important features, the given work is devoted only to tobacco advertising. 

The international experience of regulating tobacco advertising