Report Slams Marlboro for Marketing to Teens Globally
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A cohort of consumer advocacy groups are calling for Philip Morris International to end its global “Be Marlboro” campaign, charging that it knowingly targets kids and teenagers. The cohort is also calling for countries to enforce stricter tobacco-marketing regulations.
In a report released today called “You’re the Target,” the groups said that the global campaign, launched in 2011 and created by Publicis Groupe’s Leo Burnett, has been found to target teens. That, the report says, violates laws restricting tobacco marketing in several countries, but it is calling for all countries to adopt stricter regulations that would in effect ban all marketing, promotion and sponsorship from tobacco companies.
According to the report, Philip Morris International spent $6.97 billion on marketing and related expenses in 2012 on all its products. It said at least $62 million of that was spent on new brands and the rollout of “Be Marlboro,” citing PMI’s 10-K. The report comes from Corporate Accountability International, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Alliance for the Control of Tobacco Use, Tobacco Control Alliance, Framework Convention Alliance, InterAmerican Heart Foundation and Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance.
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