Background: Comprehensive bans have been enacted by governments on traditional forms of tobacco advertising, such as electronic and print advertising and sponsorship, while restrictions have been placed on point of sale advertising and on the use of some brand descriptors. This presentation analyses the efforts by the tobacco industry to subvert the intent of these laws through marketing strategies designed to evoke a connection to tobacco packaging, and perhaps designed to offset the impact of new, graphic health warnings.

Discussion: Analysis of contemporary marketing strategies was undertaken. Material was collected from recent tobacco marketing endeavors including re-packaging of tobacco products, the introduction of alternative product descriptors, and point of sale display redesigns undertaken by tobacco manufacturers and retailers.

Conclusion: Despite the relatively comprehensive nature of existing advertising bans, incomplete bans have encouraged the tobacco industry to substitute effort and resources into ever more creative marketing strategies. These new strategies are incompatible with the intent of laws banning tobacco advertising. In this ‘end game' environment, the cornerstone of these marketing efforts is the tobacco pack itself. Without requirements for generic tobacco packaging and bans on all forms of advertising including display, marketing bans will always be susceptible to exploitation by the tobacco industry.