Women, the tobacco industry’s latest target

LAHORE: During its annual World No Tobacco Day conference the Pakistan Medical Society (PMS) focused on the increasing emphasis of tobacco marketing companies on women.

The event was organised at the Aristotle Grammar School in Lahore. Punjab Assembly member Dr Zamrud Yasmeen Rana stated that cigarette advertisements were increasingly targeting women in developing countries as the new, untapped potential market. She shared her views during the workshop titled, “Gender and Tobacco, An Emphasis on Marketing to Women”.

Dr Rana stated that tobacco dependency was a man-made and preventable epidemic. She stressed that there was no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke and smoke-free environments were the need of the day to ensure protection from the harmful effects of passive smoke.She stated that unfortunately the epidemic was now rearing its ugly head towards the developing world. “Because most women have remained averse to the use of cigarettes, the tobacco industry is aggressively going after them to boost sales”, she said.

Changing strategies

Cigarettes have increasingly been positioned in commercials, films and print adverts to reflect them as capable of satisfying the psychosocial needs of women. The tobacco industry is unscrupulous in its attempt to market cigarettes to young women- a niche previously unexplored.

Brands for younger women stress the glamour attached with the consumption of cigarettes. They promote notions of female camaraderie, self-confidence, independence and freedom as intertwined with the inhalation of tobacco. Similarly, older women are depicted in relaxed social environments, cigarette in hand, escaping from their daily burden with the puff of a popular brand. The tobacco industry effectively capitalises on sports, Hollywood and concerts, events that draw younger women. Women in developing countries who increasingly want to be associated with global trends in fashion and music are key targets. Models in music videos, actresses in Hollywood blockbusters, major sports figures and pop culture icons are often pictured with cigarettes.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 1st, 2010.