Beyond the Billboard: Countering the Tobacco Industry's Digital Marketing Playbook

Abstract

Background: The tobacco industry has been evolving its marketing strategies to counter the Tobacco Advertising, Promotion and Sponsorship (TAPS) regulations. The industry has started to shift towards newer digital platforms, i.e., immersive digital technologies like the metaverse, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and advergaming, due to the increasing restrictions being posed under frameworks like the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and India’s Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003.  Material and Methods: To evaluate the adequacy of current regulatory frameworks, this editorial has synthesised information and evidence from a peer literature review, policy documents, and industry case studies. Results: Immersive digital marketing strategies are being used by the tobacco industry to build brand appeal. Existing TAPS regulations do not address these, and the WHO FCTC Decision FCTC/COP10(23) has extended TAPS restrictions to digital communication platforms, but does not explicitly address these platforms. To counter these, the intervention pillars comprising systematic surveillance, documentation of industry activity, developing counter-messaging within the same digital spaces, platform-level accountability, and mandatory age-verification systems are all needed. Conclusion: To close the regulatory gap around the newer digital marketing technologies, coordinated action is needed from public health researchers, civil society watchdogs, technology-literate regulators, behavioural scientists, and digital-economy regulators.