Researchers Say Smoking Promoted on YouTube

Nearly three quarters of the English-language videos posted to YouTube for five top cigarette brands promoted smoking, according to a new Australian study, CNNHealth.com reported Aug. 27.

Investigators searched YouTube for the most-frequently viewed videos with words or images related to five leading, non-Chinese brands of cigarettes: Benson & Hedges, L&M, Marlboro, Mild Seven, and Winston. They found 163 videos that met their criteria.

Less than 4 percent of the videos analyzed by the team had anti-smoking content, while 71 percent had pro-tobacco content. Of the pro-tobacco videos, nearly 70 percent used a brand name in the title and 71 percent used a brand name in the video itself. Most of the videos linked smoking with celebrities and movies, music, and sports — all themes that the researchers said would interest youth.

“Over 20 of the videos appeared to be very professionally made,” said Lucy Elkins, of the University of Otago in New Zealand, and colleagues. “Tobacco companies stand to benefit greatly from the marketing potential of Web 2.0, without themselves being at a significant risk of being implicated in violating any laws or advertising codes.”

“When it comes to YouTube, Philip Morris USA does not post cigarette brand marketing videos,” said Ken Garcia, a representative of the company. Garcia also said that Philip Morris USA, maker of Marlboro cigarettes, had asked YouTube to remove videos because of copyright infringement in the past.

Elkins and her colleagues acknowledged in their study that tobacco companies deny marketing their products on YouTube. They recommended that public health organizations ask YouTube to remove pro-smoking videos if they contain offensive material or infringe copyright. They also suggested that governments apply the requirements of the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to the internet.

The study was published online Aug. 25 in the journal Tobacco Control.