Selling cancer on YouTube: the new advertising platform for tobacco companies
It's like, totally OK, YouTube said they're safe!
With many tobacco companies struggling to get around advertising bans, YouTube has become the latest and greatest place to share ads, according to new research out of the University of Otago in Wellington, New Zealand. A study published online on August 25th indicates that “pro-tobacco videos have a significant presence on YouTube, consistent with indirect marketing activity by tobacco companies.”
The researchers viewed and analyzed close to 200 tobacco video ads posted on YouTube by global cigarette marketers, and discovered that over 70% of the related videos featured “pro-tobacco content,” while a dismal 4% provided anti-smoking sentiments. The majority of the pro-tobacco ads were located within categories that appeal to the teenage demographic: celebrities/movies, music, and sports.
A search for “smoking” in the “Movies” section of YouTube returns a plethora of related videos, including a few pro-marijuana use clips. A search for “cigarettes” in the “Music” section actually returns the most anti-smoking videos, though, including PSA-type clips that feature the longterm health effects of cigarette smoke.
The BBC reports that cigarette manufacturer Marlboro has posted the most content on the video-sharing website, but when contacted, Marlboro stated that they were not connected to the videos posted on YouTube. A spokesman for the US-division of the brand said that Marlboro has never posted “cigarette brand marketing on YouTube.”
In addition to ads that seem to promote smoking (a behavior that people understand to cause lung cancer and other illnesses), YouTube also features clips from old cigarette commercials, like this Chesterfield commercial from the fifties that claims that smoking is actually good for your health. Another video shows cigarette commercials from the early sixties, many of which touts the benefits of smoking and glamorizes smoking in general.
Clearly, the truth about the health consequences associated with cigarette smoking are much more explicit now, and it’s no secret that smoking is perhaps one of the worst lifestyle choices a person can make in terms of their health. In recent years, tobacco companies have made the jump from “traditional” advertising, such as magazine ads, to web 2.0-type advertising, like banner ads on websites and even videos on YouTube. The question is: should the Internet be regulated more closely to reduce the presence of pro-smoking advertising?
One consideration is that people can report videos on YouTube that they believe to be misleading, offensive, and harmful. Perhaps there will be a “movement” of sorts where health organizations and anti-smoking groups report all of the pro-smoking videos on the social media site in an effort to clear the website of potentially dangerous content? What do you think?
One thing is for sure – teenagers are impressionable people. If a teen is able to view an Internet ad or video that glamorizes smoking and makes it look like “the” thing to do in order to fit in, that teen is far more likely to begin smoking cigarettes. How do we protect young people from these and other concerning ads now in the age of the Internet?
In addition to YouTube, Facebook also has several groups that seem to be “pro-smoking” and “pro-cigarette,” including a group called “Cigarettes!” featuring a picture of a man lighting a mouth full of hundreds of cigarettes, and another called “Cigarettes” that has close to 17,000 fans. One wall post is by a group that will ship your favorite brand of cigs right to your door if you request your brand of choice by email. Perhaps most alarming is the group “I Love Cigarettes,” with 3,357 fans. Their tagline is “Smoking Kills….??? What a Joke.”
Of course, people have the right to join these groups – but what kind of message are social media websites sending if they allow the promotion of harmful behaviors, like smoking?
What do you think: should social media outlets be prevented from promoting behaviors that are harmful to your health? Should the viewing of such videos and other content be monitored? For example, should users have to be 18 or older to view a pro-smoking video, or join a similar group?
Sources:
The Inquirer
Tobaccocontrol.bmj.com
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