Children's Awareness of Cigarette Advertisements and Brand Imagery

Summary Individual interviews were conducted with 726 Glasgow children aged between 6 and 17. Their responses to questions about a set of cigarette advertisements indicate that the majority of primary school children are well aware of cigarette advertising; and many can correctly identify cigarette brands in ‘puzzle’ advertisements which do not show brand names. Previous qualitative research suggests that an adult‐like perception of the imagery in cigarette advertisements develops over the years 10 to 14. The present survey findings add to this by suggesting that many older primary school children have a rudimentary or marginal awareness of the ‘brand personalities’ projected in oblique cigarette advertisements permitted in the U.K. Among the secondary school children, proportionally more smokers than non‐smokers said they had seen the advertisements; and proportionally more smokers identified the ‘puzzle’ advertisements. These findings suggest that cigarette advertising is getting through to young people, and to under‐age smokers in particular.