Australia: Concerns Raised over Pro-smoking Phone Apps

Source from:  Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) (au)  10/25/2012

Anti-smoking campaigners have raised concerns about pro-smoking phone apps, which may be getting around strict laws that ban tobacco products from being advertised. A study has found there are more than 100 such apps on offer from Google and Apple. Tobacco companies deny any involvement, but the Federal Health Department said it would investigate the retailers of the apps. "Once you open the app there is different brands of cigarette packs, so you pick your favourite one and then you light it and smoke it virtually," University of Sydney researcher Nasser Dhim said. "People want to try different things and these apps are distributed in various categories in the app store - entertainment, games, health and fitness. "So everywhere you find them." Mr Dhim's study claims it has identified a new trend of promoting tobacco products in a medium with global reach, a huge consumer base of various age groups and less strict regulation policies. "Some of these apps have shown explicit images to some brands of tobacco, such as Marlboro; we have found three apps actually advertising Marlboro," he said. "Some of the other apps do [show] other brands and some of them resemble these brands in a smoking simulation." However, Mr Dhim admitted this was far from a smoking gun linking tobacco companies to the products. "Tobacco companies could actually investigate those who publish explicit images to their products and if they think they have violated their copyright they could issue legal suits on them," he said. "So we cannot tell for sure if the tobacco industry is behind that. But it's a suspicious situation." British American Tobacco would not comment on the research but said it was not involved in any of the apps. Philip Morris, which owns the Marlboro trademark, was also contacted for comment. 'Perfect pitch' The Federal Health Department, which regulates tobacco advertising, said in a statement it was generally an offence to publish a tobacco advertisement on the internet. "Potentially, many of the apps identified in the study may be tobacco advertisements under the Act, particularly if they promote smoking," the statement read. "However, the Act only extends to tobacco advertisements published in Australia. "This includes advertisements that originate in Australia or which, for example, are published by an Australian company or an Australian citizen. "The Department will be contacting the retailers of apps to ensure they are aware of the new legislation." Professor Simon Chapman, an anti-smoking campaigner from the University of Sydney, said he was worried because apps were used mostly by younger people. He said it was a perfect way to pitch cigarettes. "I think that you first of all commence the debate about the importance of not closing down freedom of individual speech, which would be very important," he said. "But if there is any trail or any trace of it being a commercially motivated activity, then that's a different matter altogether." Google and Apple were asked for comment but neither company responded to emails. Enditem