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Letter to the Editor Tobacco Prevention & Cessation
1
Published by European Publishing on behalf of the European Network for Smoking and Tobacco Prevention (ENSP). © 2025 Heidt C. and Schaller K. This is an Open Access article
distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Tobacco products: Law applies also to social media
Christopher Heidt1, Katrin Schaller1
Dear Editor,
Advertising for tobacco products is banned in many places in Germany, according
to the Tobacco Products Act1. The law applies to conventional tobacco products as
well as to nicotine and non-nicotine e-cigarettes, and to heated tobacco products
(HTPs). It also applies to social media. As globally acting networks, several social
media platforms have a voluntary self-regulation for products that are harmful
to health, such as tobacco. But those regulations do not work in reality2. The
Project ‘Media Monitoring: Advertising for Tobacco, Related Products and Alcohol
on Social Media’, conducted by the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ),
shows that advertising for e-cigarettes and HTPs is still present on social media in
Germany3. The tobacco industry is continuing its established advertising strategies
for their new products in social media, creating an image of seemingly less harmful,
trendy lifestyle products4. For example (Figure 1), British American Tobacco
(BAT) advertises its Glo HTPs on Instagram with images of groups of young and
fashion-conscious consumers enjoying a happy get-together, thus appealing to
young people’s sense of togetherness and belonging. The tobacco sticks, which are
covered by the Tobacco Products Act, are not visible in the BAT images. Instead,
only the electronic devices used to heat the tobacco sticks are shown. BAT also
involves Music Stars in its campaigns, using their popularity to reach a young
target group. Philip Morris does things in a similar way. The tobacco company
advertises the IQOS HTPs on Facebook and Instagram, sometimes even showing
the tobacco sticks. In addition to the company, retailers are promoting IQOS on
social media. In the media monitoring project, we collected 89 posts from retailers
promoting IQOS between February and September 2023. Promotional items such
as the packaging of the heating device (n=23; 26% of retailers posts for IQOS), the
heating device (n=23; 26% of retailers posts for IQOS), display stands (n=6; 7%
of retailers posts for IQOS) and other promotional items (n=25; 28% of retailers
AFFILIATION
1 Ofce for Cancer Prevention
and WHO Collaborating Centre
for Tobacco Control, German
Cancer Research Center,
Heidelberg, Germany
CORRESPONDENCE TO
Christopher Heidt. Ofce of
Cancer Prevention and WHO
Collaborating Centre for Tobacco
Control, German Cancer Research
Center, Heidelberg, Germany
Email: c.heidt@dkfz-heidelberg.
de
ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0009-
0008-5137-0091
KEYWORDS
prevention, advocacy, social
media, tobacco products,
advertising
Received: 9 September 2024
Revised: 12 March 2025
Accepted: 15 March 2025
Tob. Prev. Cessation 2025;11(March):18 https://doi.org/10.18332/tpc/202934
Figure 1. Manufactures and retailers promote HTPs on Instagram and Facebook
in Germany: (from left to right) young peer group with heating devices; the
heating devices with tobacco sticks (post asks, ‘We ask you: How do you make
your IQOS device unique?’); influencer on promotional event; point-of-sale display
stand
Letter to the Editor Tobacco Prevention & Cessation
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Tob. Prev. Cessation 2025;11(March):18
https://doi.org/10.18332/tpc/202934
posts for IQOS) can be seen in the images posted.
Retailers also promote the tobacco sticks (n=12; 13%
of retailers posts for IQOS).
Advertising on social media has a huge potential
to reach many young people. A national survey in
2023 concludes that nearly 60% of the German-
speaking population aged 14–19 years uses
Instagram every day, and about 10% Facebook5.
Tobacco advertising increases the likelihood of
adolescents to start smoking6 and increases overall
tobacco consumption7. The available studies suggest
that e-cigarette advertising increases the desire to
try the products8-10. As neither HTPs nor e-cigarettes
are harmless lifestyle products, young people
have to be protected from advertising for these
products11,12. The German government is therefore
urged to tighten the rules on the marketing and
sponsorship of tobacco and nicotine, as recommended
by the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco
Control (FCTC)13,14. Several health and civil society
organizations started a campaign committed to
ensure that children and adolescents grow up in an
environment that enables them to develop their
personality free from alcohol and nicotine, and to
make decisions that are not influenced by commercial
interests15. The results of the media monitoring
project are valuable data for advocacy for improved
advertising bans and enforcement of legislation.
REFERENCES
1. Bundesministerium der Justiz. Gesetz über Tabakerzeugnisse
und verwandte Erzeugnisse. Accessed March 15, 2025.
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/tabakerzg/
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product regulation: report on the scientific basis of tobacco
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August 23, 2023. Accessed March 15, 2025. https://www.
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3. Heidt C, Wüllner A, Seiler J, Ouédraogo N, Schaller K.
Advertising of tobacco and related products on social
media in Germany. Tob Prev Cessat. 2024;10:10.18332/
tpc/195499. doi:10.18332/tpc/195499
4. World Health Organization. Heated tobacco products:
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WHO; 2023. Accessed March 15, 2025. https://www.who.
int/publications/i/item/9789240042490
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Soziale Medien werden 30 Minuten am Tag genutzt –
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Krebspraevention/Download/pdf/Buecher_und_
Berichte/2020_Tabakatlas-Deutschland-2020.pdf
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überfällig. Aus der Wissenschaft – für die Politik.
Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum; 2020. Accessed
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AC. E-Cigarette Marketing and Communication: How
E-Cigarette Companies Market E-Cigarettes and the Public
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2019;21(1):14-24. doi:10.1093/ntr/ntx284
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EURO-2020-4572-44335-62638
12. World Health Organization. Heated tobacco products: a
brief. WHO. September 30, 2020. Accessed March 15,
2025. https://www.who.int/europe/publications/i/item/
WHO-EURO-2020-4571-44334-62636
13. WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. FCTC/
COP/10/7 Progress Report on Technical Matters Related
to Articles 9 and 10 of the WHO FCTC (Regulation of
Contents and Disclosure of Tobacco Products, Including
Waterpipe, Smokeless Tobacco, and Heated Tobacco
Products). WHO; 2023. Accessed March 15, 2025. https://
fctc.who.int/resources/publications/i/item/fctc-cop-10-7-
progress-report-on-technical-matters-related-to-articles-
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disclosure-of-tobacco-products-including-waterpipe-
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May 19, 2023. Accessed March 15, 2025. https://fctc.who.
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Letter to the Editor Tobacco Prevention & Cessation
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advertising-promotion-and-sponsorship-depiction-of-
tobacco-in-entertainment-media
15. Kinder ohne Alkohol und Nikotin. Initiative für den
Schutz von Kindern und Jugendlichen vor Alkohol- und
Nikotin-Marketing. Kinder;2024. Accessed March 15,
2025. https://kinder-ohne-alkohol-und-nikotin.de/
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
The authors have completed and submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure
of Potential Conicts of Interest and none was reported.
FUNDING
This research was funded by the German Ministry of Health (BMG) and the
Baden-Württemberg Cancer Association.
ETHICAL APPROVAL AND INFORMED CONSENT
Ethical approval and informed consent were not required for this study.
DATA AVAILABILITY
The data are available on request from the authors.
PROVENANCE AND PEER REVIEW
Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.
DISCLAIMER
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors.
