Samantha Hayes reports that a University of Otago study has found that despite an international ban on tobacco advertising, YouTube has a great deal of tobacco-related advertising and pro-tobacco video clips.
Researchers looked at five different brands, including Malboro, and tobacco-related video clips tended to involve celebrities, movies and sports.
An excerpt: (read in full here)
“Ash says brands like Marlboro have been searching for loopholes since print and broadcast advertising was banned 10 years ago.
“”The internet and social media is used by youth, and also there’s no age restriction on it, so in terms of getting around marketing laws it’s very useful for what they’re doing,” says spokesperson Michael Colhoun.
“But Philip Morris International, which owns Marlboro, told 3 News they neither promote nor condone their products on YouTube.”