Tobacco advertising and promotion at point‐of‐sale

Point-of-sale (POS) advertising is a means of targeting consumers at the place where they buy their products.With the banning of many forms of tobacco advertising and promotion, POS advertising and displays have become an important component in the tobacco industry's marketing strategy.Tobacco companies spend a substantial amount of their marketing budgets promoting tobacco products in retail outlets. 1 These promotional activities include retailer incentives to secure prime shelf space for tobacco products and in-store displays and advertising. [2]][4] A recent study audited tobacco POS advertising and promotion in different types of retail outlets in Perth, Western Australia.The aim was to identify retail activities that undermined the intentions of legislation restricting tobacco advertising and promotion.In total, 72 outlets selling tobacco products inside or in close proximity to the 10 largest shopping centres in the Perth metropolitan area were visited by auditors between April and August 2005.Two auditors approached the store attendant in each retail outlet, introduced themselves and sought permission to look at the displays of tobacco products and take some photographs.The auditors arrived unannounced to preclude store managers making any changes to displays.Of the 72 retail outlets visited, 92% (n=66) agreed to be audited.POS tobacco advertising was observed in 35% (n=23) of retail outlets visited However, other activities constituting tobacco product promotions were also prevalent.Cigarette packs and cartons were displayed to look like posters (i.e.'power-walls') 5 in 58% (n=38) of outlets (see Figure 1).These were visible from outside the store in most cases.Brand-specific counter-top displays were also observed.These are powerful forms of promotion in retail outlets.An important objective of tobacco control legislation is to minimise children's exposure to tobacco promotions and their access to cigarettes.However, the audit found that 32% (n=21) of retail outlets displayed cigarette packs adjacent to products that children or adolescents were likely to buy (e.g., confectioneries, youth magazines, toys).Twenty-four per cent (n=16) of outlets arranged tobacco displays in such a way that pack health warnings were either fully or partially obscured.Packs were stacked to display the cigarette brand names on the lid only or displayed at an angle to obscure the health warnings.In one store, price stickers were placed over warnings (see Figure 1).