Article

Tobacco related bar promotions: insights from tobacco industry documents

S K Katz¹, A M Lavack²

¹ University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
² University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Anne M Lavack, PhD, Faculty of Administration, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada S4S 0A2;
anne.lavack{at}uregina.ca

Objectives: To examine the tobacco industry's use of bar promotions, including their target groups, objectives, strategies, techniques, and results.

Design: Over 2000 tobacco industry documents available as a result of the Master Settlement Agreement were reviewed on the internet at several key web sites using keyword searches that included "bar", "night", "pub", "party", and "club". The majority of the documents deal with the US market, with a minor emphasis on Canadian and overseas markets.

Results: The documents indicate that bar promotions are important for creating and maintaining brand image, and are generally targeted at a young adult audience. Several measures of the success of these promotions are used, including number of individuals exposed to the promotion, number of promotional items given away, and increased sales of a particular brand during and after the promotion.

Conclusion: Bar promotions position cigarettes as being part of a glamorous lifestyle that includes attendance at nightclubs and bars, and appear to be highly successful in increasing sales of particular brands.

Keywords: bar promotions; tobacco industry

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Wakefield, M., Cameron, M., Murphy, M. (2009). Potential for Smoke-Free Policies in Social Venues to Prevent Smoking Uptake and Reduce Relapse: A Qualitative Study. Health Promot Pract 10: 119-127 [Abstract]  
• Hafez, N., Ling, P. M (2006). Finding the Kool Mixx: how Brown & Williamson used music marketing to sell cigarettes.. Tobacco Control 15: 359-366 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Apollonio, D E, Malone, R E (2005). Marketing to the marginalised: tobacco industry targeting of the homeless and mentally ill. Tobacco Control 14: 409-415 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Jalleh, G, Donovan, R J, Stewart, S, Sullivan, D (2005). Selling or promotion?. Tobacco Control 14: 430-430 [Full Text]  
• Toll, B A, Ling, P M (2005). The Virginia Slims identity crisis: an inside look at tobacco industry marketing to women. Tobacco Control 14: 172-180 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Hammond, D (2005). Smoking behaviour among young adults: beyond youth prevention. Tobacco Control 14: 181-185 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Gilpin, E A, White, V M, Pierce, J P (2005). How effective are tobacco industry bar and club marketing efforts in reaching young adults?. Tobacco Control 14: 186-192 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Hammond, D, Tremblay, I, Chaiton, M, Lessard, E, Callard, C, the Tobacco on Campus Workgroup, (2005). Tobacco on campus: industry marketing and tobacco control policy among post-secondary institutions in Canada. Tobacco Control 14: 136-140 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Kozlowski, L T, Dreschel, N A, Stellman, S D, Wilkenfeld, J, Weiss, E B, Goldberg, M E (2005). An extremely compensatible cigarette by design: documentary evidence on industry awareness and reactions to the Barclay filter design cheating the tar testing system. Tobacco Control 14: 64-70 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Rigotti, N. A., Moran, S. E., Wechsler, H. (2005). US College Students' Exposure to Tobacco Promotions: Prevalence and Association With Tobacco Use. AJPH 95: 138-144 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Sloan, F A, Mathews, C A, Trogdon, J G (2004). Impacts of the Master Settlement Agreement on the tobacco industry. Tobacco Control 13: 356-361 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Biener, L, Nyman, A L, Kline, R L, Albers, A B (2004). Adults only: the prevalence of tobacco promotions in bars and clubs in the Boston area. Tobacco Control 13: 403-408 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Knight, J, Chapman, S (2004). "Asian yuppies...are always looking for something new and different": creating a tobacco culture among young Asians. Tobacco Control 13: ii22-ii29 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Rigotti, N A, Regan, S, Moran, S E, Wechsler, H (2003). Students' opinion of tobacco control policies recommended for US colleges: a national survey. Tobacco Control 12: 251-256 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Lantz, P M (2003). Smoking on the rise among young adults: implications for research and policy. Tobacco Control 12: i60-70 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Trotter, L, Wakefield, M, Borland, R (2002). Socially cued smoking in bars, nightclubs, and gaming venues: a case for introducing smoke-free policies. Tobacco Control 11: 300-304 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Warner, K. E. (2002). What's a Cigarette Company to Do?. AJPH 92: 897-900 [Full Text]  
• Wakefield, M, Letcher, T (2002). My pack is cuter than your pack. Tobacco Control 11: 154-156 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Cummings, K M, Pollay, R W (2002). Exposing Mr Butts' tricks of the trade. Tobacco Control 11: i1-4 [Full Text]  
• Cummings, K M, Morley, C P, Horan, J K, Steger, C, Leavell, N-R (2002). Marketing to America's youth: evidence from corporate documents. Tobacco Control 11: i5-17 [Abstract] [Full Text]