People in this country are never far away from ads by cigarette manufacturers, a communications professor said yesterday.
Kuo Liang-wen (郭良文), director of the Institute of Communication Studies of Chiao Tung University, said at a press conference on media literacy on cigarette ads that cigarette manufacturers are willing to spend big money on advertising and that they are omnipresent, although the average person may not be aware of their presence.
He said that according to figures provided by AC Nielsen, a leading marketing information company, cigarette manufacturers spent more than NT$200 million (US$5.97 million) between January last year and March this year on ads in 126 domestic and foreign magazines, with US and Japanese cigarette brands accounting for the lion's share of the spending.
The Japanese brand Mild Seven Super Lights topped the list at NT$28.84 million during the 15-month period, followed by the Japanese brand Mine at NT$25.06 million.
The top nine spenders on ads were all foreign brands, with the Long Life Gentle series from the Tobacco & Wine Corp coming in 10th with spending of NT$7.92 million during the period.
Meanwhile, a survey on media literacy unveiled yesterday showed that teenagers received only 70 points in a 100-point score rating.
The Bureau of Health Promotion under the Department of Health unveiled the survey conducted on students from all levels of schools from elementary school through to colleges between May 11 and 21.
A total of 4,290 valid samples were collected. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 1 percentage point.
Huang Tung-yi, an associate professor at Shih Hsin University who conducted the survey, said that more than 70 percent of the children and teenagers are not aware of the marketing of cigarette manufacturers under the cover of other activities.
When asked if they are aware that cigarette manufactures are actually trying to promote their products through sponsoring such activities as ball games or concerts, most said they aren't.
Those who have a higher education are unable to read into cigarette ads that try to lure them for a puff, but unfortunately, their determination to resist tobacco tends to be the weakest, he said.
Convenience stores are the primary channel for cigarette ads, followed by the Internet, magazines and advertising boards on roadsides, movies and newspapers.
The survey found youngsters receive the majority of anti-smoking messages from awareness campaigns at their schools. The smoking population is getting younger, with 17 percent of males and 4.1 percent of females aged between 15 and 17 smoking.
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