Shops with matching cigarette pack colour to attract customers

Shops and point of sales with luxurious decoration matching colour of particular cigarette packs are seen in the city to attract customers to make their products popular.

The shops have well-designed display showcases with colourful lighting, which have been made for keeping cigarette packets.

Some shops are displaying cigarette packs at the showcases while some shops have kept their showcases empty.

Such decorative shops and point of sales matching with cigarette pack colours are innovative promotional tactics of tobacco companies.

Tobacco companies are constantly changing their promotional tactics as most countries have banned all forms of tobacco advertisement, sponsorships and promotion, anti- tobacco campaigners told BSS.

They said companies spend huge amount of money for decoration at shops and point of sale to draw attention of customers aiming to promote their business. This ill tactics of tobacco companies should be stopped.

Visiting different areas in Dhaka city, this correspondent found that shops and point of sales were designed and decorated matching color of cigarette packets of a foreign tobacco companies.

Owner of Shohid General Store at Shegunbagicha in Dhaka city told BSS that, "My shop was decorated and designed by an international tobacco company. They have provided all financial supports for decoration purposes of the shop."

Asked about empty showcases at his shop, where cigarette packets are not displayed, he said, "Cigarette packets are not displayed at his shop as the company do not provide any instruction in this regard."

"I know tobacco advertisement is banned as per the law but it is not advertisement," the proprietor of the store said.

Star Coffee, a retail outlet, at Taltola of city's Shewrapara area, was decorated by the same tobacco company, which is seen to display Marlboro Cigarette packets violating the existing tobacco control law.

Philip Morris International, an international tobacco giant, is launching the new promotional tactics of shop decoration to make its Marlboro brand popular in Bangladesh.

As per the amended tobacco control law, any person found carrying out promotional campaign on tobacco and tobacco products will face three months jail term or a fine (maximum) of Taka one lakh or both punishments. In case of repeating the violation of the law, punishment will be doubled.

About the promotional activities of tobacco companies, Dr Mahfuzul Huq, technical officer of World Health Organization (WHO), said displaying of cigarette packets at the showcase of shops or point of sales is a clear violation of law as the tobacco law (amended) has banned all forms of advertisement and promotional activities.

Tobacco companies are avoiding direct advertisement and promotional practices due to the restriction of tobacco control law, he added.

They are adopting creative promotional tactics by taking advantages of different loopholes of law and lack of its proper enforcement.

"Mobile court fined recently some shops for displaying cigarette packets violating tobacco control law. But this is inadequate drive of the government against tobacco control law violation," he said.

The government should disseminate the amended tobacco control law to make the people aware about its enforcement, Dr Mahfuz said adding most people particularly shopkeepers do not have adequate knowledge about the law.

Citing different provisions of the amended tobacco control law, Project Coordinator of Work for Better Bangladesh (WBB) Aminul Islam Sujan said any forms of advertisement and promotional activities have been prohibited at point of sales and shops in the law.

Tobacco companies are being encouraged to deploy innovative
promotional tactics at point of sales and shops in the country
due to ack of proper implementation of the tobacco control law.

Source: BSS,15 March 2014