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Is "YouTube" telling or selling you something? Tobacco content on the YouTube video-sharing website

The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Correspondence to:
Ms B Freeman
The University of Sydney, Sydney 2006, NSW, Australia; bfreeman@health.usyd.edu.au

Received 3 January 2007

Accepted 1 March 2007

Abbreviations: WOMMA, The Word of Mouth Marketing Association; WWW, world wide web

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

With advertising bans eroding direct tobacco advertising and promotional opportunities, tobacco companies are embracing more covert means of keeping their products in the minds of current and potential consumers. Compared with the breadth of published research on "above-the-line" tobacco advertising, research examining "below-the-line"¹ indirect forms of tobacco promotion is in its infancy. Promotions at dance parties,² themed nights in hip clubs,³ bars and music festivals,⁴ and disguising market research as sampling promotions⁵ are examples of identified strategies. Just as tobacco company marketers have infiltrated youth-friendly venues, it is conceivable that they also have a presence on youth-friendly websites. While the world wide web (WWW) is being used extensively to sell cigarettes,⁶ its largely unregulated status holds much potential as a vehicle for both promoting smoking and particular brands of tobacco products, and for promoting antismoking discourse.

The WWW is no longer a vehicle to simply retrieve information and purchase goods, . . . [Full text of this article]

This article has been cited by other articles:

				B Freeman and S Chapman Gone viral? Heard the buzz? A guide for public health practitioners and researchers on how Web 2.0 can subvert advertising restrictions and spread health information J. Epidemiol. Community Health, September 1, 2008; 62(9): 778 - 782. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S J Anderson and P M Ling "And they told two friends...and so on": RJ Reynolds' viral marketing of Eclipse and its potential to mislead the public Tob. Control, August 1, 2008; 17(4): 222 - 229. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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