Tobacco Marketing at the “Point of Sale”

What is POS?

Point of sale tobacco marketing refers to tobacco advertisements and product displays located where the consumer buys tobacco products. Tobacco companies pay retailers billions of dollars each year to market their deadly products in the most visible locations in the store (behind the cash register in convenience stores, pharmacies, and small groceries).

The Facts About POS

Teens are more likely to be influenced by cigarette advertising than by peer pressure. (1)
Tobacco product advertising and display in stores gives youth the impression that tobacco products are easily accessible. (2)
Studies show that even brief exposure to tobacco advertising influences adolescents intentions to smoke. (3)
18.8% of stores have tobacco advertisements at or below 3 feet (a young child’s eye level). (4)
Almost every licensed tobacco retailer displays product advertising, with an average of 18 ads per store. (5)
“Power walls” (the large, prominent tobacco product displays located behind the cash register) function as a subtle kind of advertising, conveying the message that cigarettes are popular and desirable, and they are effective. (6)
A recent study concluded that “young people’s exposure to tobacco displays at the point of sale is significantly associated with being susceptible to smoking and current smoking.” (6)

Display Bans on a Global Scale

In Iceland, youth smoking rates have declined since the introduction tobacco display bans.
Canada has also seen a dramatic decline in youth smoking rates since implementing tobacco display bans. Research has further shown that the decline is most dramatic in provinces where the bans have been in effect the longest.

Let's move from typical tobacco product displays in New York State to covered displays

Typical NYS Tobacco Display Covered Tobacco Display

LET'S MOVE FROM THIS ----> TO THIS

Why Tobacco Product Display Bans Are Necessary

Tobacco use is far and away the leading cause of preventable death, killing more than 400,000 Americans and more than 25,000 New Yorkers a year.

Tobacco is not a normal consumer product – it kills when used as intended.

Tobacco addiction starts in childhood – nearly 90% of regular smokers started smoking before the age of 18.

Research demonstrates that displays of tobacco products – separate and apart from other tobacco advertising – increase the likelihood that youth will start smoking.

Tobacco product displays create a false impression for youth of the social acceptability (normalcy) and popularity of tobacco use.

Tobacco companies engineer product displays to make them as tempting as possible – and they pay retailers for the right to control and manipulate these displays.

Displays of tobacco products prompt impulse purchasers by people trying to quit smoking or people trying to smoke less.

International examples suggest that display bans are an effective means of reducing youth smoking.

Center for Public Health and Tobacco Policy, (2010). Tobacco Product Display Bans.

To learn more about smoke free policies or about how you can implement a smoke free policy where you work, play, or pray, contact Tobacco Free Broome at 607.778.3068 and Tobacco Free Tioga at 607.687.4020, Community Partners of the New York State Tobacco Control Program.

Contact YOUR local legislators and encourage them to support a resolution to reduce or eliminate tobacco advertising in retail stores in your community. To help you find out who your county, town, village, or city legislators are, visit the NYS local government website at: http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/ils/topics/local.htm

1- Evans N, Farkas A, Gilpin E, Berry C, Pierce JP. Influence of Tobacco Marketing and Exposure to Smokers on Adolescent Susceptibility to Smoking. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 1995;87(19): 1538-1545. http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/87/20/1538

2- Wakefield, Germain, et al. “An experimental study of effects on schoolchildren of exposure to point-of-sale cigarette advertising and pack displays.” Health Education Research Theory and Practice. 21(3):338-347 (2006).

3- National Cancer Institute. “The Role of Media in Promoting and Reducing Tobacco Use”. NIH publication no. 07-6242 (2008).

4- Business Practices and Minors’ Access to Tobacco Study Group. Unpublished data. Cited in StoreAlert.org’s fact sheet titled “The Big Picture: The Real Cost of Tobacco.” http://www.storealert.org/docs/factsheet.pdf

5- Girlando M, Loomis B, Watson K, Farrelly M. Retail Advertising and Promotions for Cigarettes in New York. RTI International (prepared for the New York State Department of Health); 2007. hhtp://www.health.state.ny.us/prevention/tobacco_control/docs/cigarette_ads_and_promotion_report.pdf

6- Center for Public Health and Tobacco Policy, (2010). Tobacco Product Display Bans.

If you want to quit and need support call the
New York State Smokers Quitline: