An alarming New Zealand study has found that tobacco companies are getting around advertising restrictions by promoting their products on YouTube. It found that more than 71% of tobacco related vidos on YouTube had pro-tobacco content with the brand name in the title. "The four most prominent themes of the videos were celebrity/movies, sports, music and 'archive', the first three of which represent themes of interest to a youth audience,'' the study said. The last category would probably appeal more to librarians.
According to the BBC, videos associated with Marlboro were the most heavily viewed, racking up an average of almost 104,000 views each, with one attracting two million views alone. As we expect, the tobacco companies have denied they had anything to do with the videos.
These are the same people who put out this video in the 1940s telling us that doctors smoked Camel.
Would you believe this mob?
The most obvious solution is to extend government controls on cigarette advertising to the Internet.
no comment untill now