Yunnan Tobacco Control Group: Tobacco Companies Selling Cigarettes via WeChat Are Openly Violating R
China prohibits tobacco advertising and marketing on the internet
Screenshots of tobacco companies' "Internet+" marketing
Yunnan Net News (Reporter Zhao Gang) - "Internet+" is the current trend of information technology, and those who utilize "Internet+" will gain the upper hand. However, not all companies using this technology receive praise. Recently, the Yunnan Tobacco Control Organization's Chao Yi Health Consulting Center expressed concerns over tobacco companies selling cigarettes through WeChat using the "Internet+ tobacco" model, believing it violates the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and China's Interim Measures for Internet Advertising Management.
According to Yunnan Net reporters, the 2015 Tobacco Control Media Environment Scanning Project Group released a survey report titled "Media, Tobacco Companies, and Tobacco Communication Patterns," which indicated that the struggle for discourse power between tobacco control entities and the tobacco industry has shifted from traditional mainstream media to broader new media platforms, intensifying the competition for media resources and complicating the media environment for tobacco control communication.
The report states that mainstream media has increased its attention to tobacco control issues, and the cooperation methods with the tobacco industry have diversified. Local media have carried many of the tobacco industry's demands in their reporting, becoming important initial sources for tobacco coverage. Public health departments at the city and county levels have not yet achieved effective collaboration with urban media, resulting in a severe lack of mainstream media channels for tobacco control communication, reflecting the awkward situation faced by grassroots tobacco control efforts.
Additionally, the report pointed out that as of September 2015, there were approximately 460 WeChat public accounts related to the tobacco industry nationwide, with about 240 operated by tobacco industrial enterprises, around 190 by tobacco commercial enterprises, about 20 by major tobacco retailers, and approximately 30 by industry media and consulting agencies.
From the articles and content on these public accounts, it is evident that the tobacco industry has infiltrated various levels and types of communication platforms, gradually downplaying the tobacco aspect and enhancing corporate culture communication, continuously improving storytelling capabilities. The tobacco industry is cleverly utilizing the "Internet+ tobacco" model to intensify marketing efforts and build a self-media matrix.
A relevant person from the Yunnan Chao Yi Health Consulting Center stated that upon opening a certain local tobacco company's WeChat public account, the "cigarette marketing" section is prominently displayed, and clicking on this section brings up the "WeChat ordering" option, indicating that offline cigarette sales have moved online. This clearly violates the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and China's Interim Measures for Internet Advertising Management.
In light of the current tobacco control situation, the "Media, Tobacco Companies, and Tobacco Communication Patterns" survey report proposed the following countermeasures: Tobacco control entities and the tobacco industry still have significant disparities in communication power and influence. Mainstream media has the responsibility to prioritize citizens' health rights, manage the relationship between tobacco reporting and tobacco control reporting, and strengthen the media's role in public opinion guidance and public service; tobacco control entities should enhance their attention to tobacco public opinion, improve their research level on tobacco industry communication strategies, and increase investment to continuously strengthen the communication capacity of grassroots tobacco control entities; legislative bodies should introduce relevant details for the new Advertising Law to eliminate the gray area of tobacco WeChat communication; relevant departments should strengthen supervision of the tobacco industry's self-owned media.
(Original title: Yunnan Tobacco Control Organization: Tobacco Companies Selling Cigarettes via WeChat Are Openly Violating Regulations)
