E-cigarette company to launch TV advertising campaign

An e-cigarette company is set to test the UK's almost 50-year ban on promoting smoking on TV, with a controversial advertising campaign telling smokers of the virtues of puffing on a product that uses nicotine.

E-Lites, which makes electronic cigarettes which do not contain tar but do use addiction-forming nicotine, is to launch a national TV advertising campaign on Saturday, 19 January.

Waterloo Road actor Mark Benton leads the campaign, which runs with the strapline "You don't know what you're missing", playing a father who misses his baby's first steps because he had to go outside his house to smoke a cigarette.

The national campaign will run on high-profile TV channels including ITV, Channel 5 and Sky, as well as in print and online.

Cigarette advertising was banned on UK TV in 1965 and cinema advertising followed in 1986.

The Advertising Standards Authority admitted that the new wave of e-cigarette products is set to prove a controversial test of its rules.

"As tobacco and smoking are areas [we] are keen to ensure that advertising upholds high standards of responsibility, we also have rules restricting products similar to tobacco products, references to smoking or tobacco products and the promotion of smoking in general," an ASA spokesman said. "As it stands, it is our view that the advertising of e-cigarettes on TV is likely to be severely restricted, so the kinds of claims and images that could be used to promote them is incredibly limited."

The TV campaign, created by ad agency McCann Birmingham, is aiming to tread a fine line by claiming it is not promoting smoking per se in the 30-second commercial.

E-Lites' tongue-in-cheek commercial features Benton returning from a sneaky cigarette having missed his family and friends see his baby perform some "Gangnam-style" dance moves. "So, what have I missed," he says.

Trevor Field, the marketing director at E-Lites, said that it is the first to run a TV ad "relating to smoking" in the UK since 1965 and admits that the goal is not to help smokers stop.

"We appreciate that it is better to quit smoking altogether but there are over 10 million smokers in the UK, may of whom are unwilling or unable to quit," he said. "E-Lites offer a harm-reducing alternative and we know that we can give smokers a healthier, cheaper and more socially acceptable option to tobacco cigarettes."

There are currently ongoing discussions in government about whether e-cigarettes with nicotine should be licensed as a smoking cessation therapy – such as products like chewing gum Nicorette, which is allowed to be advertised and also contains Nicotine.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency consulted on this matter in 2010, although no conclusion has been made.

Promoting tobacco products in TV commercials is banned by the ASA's advertising code, but it does not prohibit the depiction of cigarettes.

"Obviously it is important for us to comply with all advertising regulations," said Vince McSweeney, executive creative director at McCann Birmingham. "We have been dogged in our execution to illustrate the benefits of E-Lites in a responsible manner."

Under the UK ad rules, it would possibly be allowed to feature Winston Churchill smoking a cigar or TV detective Colombo smoking a cigarette in an ad as they are well-known smokers.

In 2011, the ASA cleared a TV ad that featured Ajit, a famous Bollywood villain from the 1970s and early 1980s who almost always held a cigar, that was used to promote a holiday tour company.

The ASA rejected a complaint that it promoted smoking because it "did not consider that smoking was a significant part or focus of the ad, but was an incidental part of the character Ajit".

However, a fashion brand that tried to use shots of James Dean puffing away in an ad would be banned.

Field said that although the E-Lites ad campaign was light-hearted, it was anti-smoking at its core. "The underlying message is more hard-hitting, provoking the thought that if smokers continue to smoke traditional cigarettes they are putting their lives at risk, [and] potentially missing future milestone achievements of their child," he added

Tobacco advertising and marketing milestones

1965: UK government bans cigarette advertising on television

1971: Health warnings mandatory on all cigarette packets

1986: Tougher restrictions on advertising and promotion introduced, including the end of tobacco advertising in cinemas

2002: Tobacco advertising banned in newspapers, billboards, magazines and anything considered "non-broadcast" media. However ads are allowed for rolling papers or filters

2005: Ban on tobacco sponsorship of global sports such as Formula One comes into effect.

2007: The Motion Picture Association of America adds smoking to list of factors influencing film ratings – alongside sex, violence and language – and advises movie companies to "eliminate the depiction of tobacco smoking from films accessible to children and youths".

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