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Do Tobacco Ad Bans Reduce Smoking Among Youth? Results of a Brazilian Study 

In the most recent print edition of the international scientific journal Addictive Behaviors is an article* by researchers at the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp) about the impact of advertising on the smoking behavior of Brazilian youth aged 11-18. . . .

A few cautions about being too quick and sweeping in interpreting this study. First, it is possible that any downturn in youth smoking in Brazil is due to more than just the ad ban. The two surveys took place roughly equidistant before and after the ad ban, true, but that was hardly the only public anti-smoking influence during the period under study. For example, during that period Brazil's federal government also banned the use of tobacco product brandnames and logos on non-tobacco products, enforced the ban on sales to minors, banned tobacco sponsorship of sporting and cultural events, stepped up public education efforts against smoking, and made cigarettes bear tougher anti-smoking messages and images. Some of the states in this survey even went further. . . .

So what can we say about this study? Well, that it provides a rare look at teen experimentation with smoking before and after an ad ban; that it hints that advertising/promotion and such experimentation are linked; but, in the final analysis, further, more finely-tuned study is needed before we can say with any certainty that such advertising bans actually contribute significantly to a decline in smoking.

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