烟草瘾是一种“传染性疾病”，通过广告、体育、营销和赞助传染。禁止烟草广告保护人们，尤其是青少年的健康。通过烟草营销创造的光彩和魅力，烟草业把致命产品包装成自由和时尚的享受，全世界每天有8万到9.9万青少年受到诱惑，开始使用烟草。
—世界卫生组织
烟草业一直诡秘地宣称卷烟广告与烟草总销量无关。这完全是睁眼说瞎话。烟草业知道这是瞎话。我一直觉得很可笑，广告已被证明增加几乎其他任何一种产品的消费，却有人说广告对烟草产品不知怎么就是神差鬼使地不起作用。
—麦肯公司前首席执行官Emerson Foote。麦肯公司是一家为烟草业提供了价值几百万美元的广告服务的全球性广告公司2
因为每年数百万客户死于烟草相关疾病或戒烟，不断招募新的吸烟者对烟草业保持财务稳定至关重要。研究表明大多数吸烟者在18岁以前开始吸烟，所以烟草业的逻辑要求它必须想方设法吸引青少年3 。
每年烟草业在世界各地做广告、赞助和其它形式促销的费用高达几十亿美元。烟草行业的文件显示，烟草公司对潜在客户的习惯、口味和欲望做了仔细研究，然后利用这些研究结果，制定针对这些客户的产品和营销活动4 。
虽然烟草业对此矢口否认，绝大多数独立的、由同行审核过的研究表明，烟草广告导致烟草消费增加 。烟草广告还对青少年有巨大影响 5。研究表明，烟草促销活动与青少年开始吸烟有因果关系，青少年接触卷烟广告预示着他们将会吸烟。研究还表明，针对青少年的烟草广告发布以后，这些广告品牌的使用和烟草的总体使用都增加了6 。
令人信服的证据表明，烟草业许多广告和促销是针对青少年的，并且成功招募了新的烟草使用者。关于烟草广告和促销增加烟草使用的证据很多也很有力，以下是几个例子：
世界卫生组织和世界银行都建议各国禁止各种形式的烟草广告和促销。许多国家已经禁止各种形式的烟草广告，其它国家正在制定严格的限制措施。芬兰、法国、印度、意大利、新西兰、葡萄牙、新加坡和泰国等国已全面禁止各种烟草广告、促销和赞助16 。如能在全球范围实施这些禁止措施，烟草消费将会大量减少。
有关禁止烟草广告有效降低烟草消费的科学证据很有力。
一项研究禁止烟草广告对各国烟草消费量影响的报告得出结论：“全面禁止烟草广告能降低烟草消费，但是有限的禁止措施效果很小或者没有任何效果”。这项2000年的研究对102个国家的数据进行了分析，发现部分禁止烟草广告对降低烟草消费不起作用。在全面禁止烟草广告的国家，人均卷烟消费量下降了约8%，在没有禁止的国家，仅下降了约1%。而且，在烟草广告禁止越全面的国家，吸烟率下降的幅度也越高23 。
部分禁止烟草广告之所以无效是因为烟草公司针对部分禁止，把广告费用转向不受限制的媒体，所以对整体消费没有或有很少影响。烟草业已经擅长寻找有创造性的新办法推销、加强和维护品牌的影响，尤其是在青少年中。这些“间接广告”方法包括：
体育赞助：烟草公司通过赞助体育活动和运动队，将产品与健康和出色运动能力相联系，影响大量青少年。
促销品：烟草公司将卷烟标志印在T恤衫、帽子、双肩背包和其它儿童喜欢的消费品上。这些做法规避了对广告的限制，还把穿戴这些促销品的人变成移动广告牌。
品牌延伸：烟草公司现在已不限于传统的促销品，开始营销同一商标的其它产品，比如万宝路经典服装、Salem Power Station音乐商店和Benson & Hedges咖啡及咖啡店。这些新的营销手段在即使烟草广告已被禁止的情况下，继续推销烟草品牌 。
样品：在许多国家里，在青少年集中的地方，如购物中心、摇滚音乐会和迪厅，烟草公司免费发放样品。免费发放容易上瘾的产品费用很小，但是保障了源源不断的新客户。
娱乐：烟草产业赞助迪斯科舞会、摇滚音乐会以及其它年轻人喜欢的活动，并鼓励在电影中正面描绘吸烟。他们已开始借助全球卫星、有线电视和互联网广告，规避各国的烟草广告禁令25 。
烟草业将大力游说，以击败限制广告的努力：
为了削弱对严格的营销限制的政治支持，烟草公司常常自己提出一套行为规范，似乎做出了很多让步。但是，这些建议通常是为了公关的目的设计的，烟草公司很少遵照执行，并且一旦政治压力减轻，就很快被弃置一边了28 。
烟草公司一直预测禁止烟草广告对广告商、媒体乃至整个经济会有严重经济后果。但在大多数情况下，烟草广告只占全部广告收入的一小部分，对目前接受烟草广告的媒体公司的经济影响很小：
烟草业还常常援引“言论自由权”，指出任何合法销售的产品都应能够合法地进行广告宣传。但是在大多数国家，都有许多禁止促销某些有害产品的先例。世界各国政府经常性地禁止或限制其它合法产品的广告，比如药品或酒类产品广告31 。
烟草公司还声称，间接广告或“品牌认同”广告的唯一目的是推广非烟草产品，而不是烟草产品。但是烟草业内部文件表明，间接烟草广告虽然不具体提及任何烟草制品，却试图通过使用品牌名称、商号名称、商标、徽章或烟草产品的其它特征，达到推广烟草产品的目的或间接效果，从而规避烟草广告禁止或限制32 。
《框架公约》有关烟草广告的第13条一开始是如下明确的宣言：“各缔约方认识到广泛禁止广告、促销和赞助将减少烟草制品的消费”。这句话以及越来越多的有关部分禁止烟草广告无效的证据，应该促使管理机构推动广泛禁止广告。《框架公约》要求已批准的国家：
各缔约方的义务至少应包括：
禁止采用任何虚假、误导或欺骗或可能对其特性、健康影响、危害或释放物产生错误影响的手段，推销烟草制品的所有形式的烟草广告、促销和赞助；
各缔约方还有权禁止进入其领土的跨国烟草广告、促销和赞助。为了履行《框架公约》义务，各国需要保证法律能够有效地适用于新的和正在出现的技术。
注释
1 WHO Press Release, "European Union Directive Banning Tobacco Advertising Overturned: WHO Urges Concerted Response", 5 October 2000; http://www.who.int/inf-pr-2000/en/pr2000-64.html
2 Quoted in L. Heise, "Unhealthy Alliance", World Watch, October 1988.
3 Cheryl Perry, "The Tobacco Industry and Underage Youth Smoking: Tobacco Industry Documents From the Minnesota Litigation," Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 1999;153:935-941.
4 See for example N. Hafez, P.M. Ling, "How Philip Morris Built Marlboro into a Global Brand for Young Adults: Implications for International Tobacco Control," Tobacco Control, Vol. 14 No. 4 (2005) and G. Hastings, L. MacFadyen, Keep Smiling: No-One's Going to Die, British Medical Association Tobacco Control Resource Centre, London, (2000).
5 See for example C. Lovato et al., "Impact of tobacco advertising and promotion on increasing adolescent smoking behaviors," Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 3, 2004; M.T. Braverman and L.E. Aaro, "Adolescent Smoking and Exposure to Tobacco Marketing Under a Tobacco Advertising Ban: Findings From 2 Norwegian National Samples," American Journal of Public Health, 1 July 2004; 94(7): 1230 – 1238; Keeler, et al. "US National Tobacco Settlement: The Effects of Advertising and Price Changes on Cigarette Consumption," Applied Economics, 36: 1623-1629, 2004; U.K. Department of Health, Effect of Tobacco Advertising on Tobacco Consumption: A Discussion Document Reviewing the Evidence, (London: Economics and Operational Research Division, Department of Health, October 1992) and Toxic Substances Board, Health OR Tobacco: An End to Tobacco Advertising and Promotion, (Wellington, New Zealand: Department of Health, May 1989).
6 R. Fielding, Y.Y. Chee et al., "Declines in tobacco brand recognition and ever-smoking rates among young children following restrictions on tobacco advertisements in Hong Kong," Journal of Public Health, March 2004, Vol. 26, No. 1; Pierce et al. "Does tobacco marketing undermine the influence of recommended parenting in discouraging adolescents from smoking?" American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 23, 73-81, 2002; Nicola Evans, Arthur Farkas, et al., "Influence of Tobacco Marketing and Exposure to Smokers on Adolescent Susceptibility to Smoking," Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 87 No. 20, October 1995; Richard W. Pollay, S. Siddarth, et al., "The Last Straw? Cigarette Advertising and Realized Market Shares Among Youth and Young Adults," Journal of Marketing, Vol. 60, No. 2, April 1996; U.S. Centers for Disease Control, "Changes in the Cigarette Brand Preference of Adolescent Smokers, U.S. 1989-1993," Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, August, 1994.
7 National Cancer Institute, Changing Adolescent Smoking Prevalence, Smoking and Tobacco Control Monograph No.14, NH Pub. No. 02-5086, November 2001.
8 US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Reducing the Health Consequences of Smoking: 25 Years of Progress. A Report of the Surgeon General, DHHS Publication No 89-8911, 1989.
9 Andrews RL, Franke GR. The determinants of cigarette consumption: A meta-analysis. Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, 10, 81-100. 1991
10 Lynch BS, Bonnie RJ (eds). Growing up tobacco-free: Preventing nicotine addiction in children and youths. Washington, DC: Institute of Medicine, National Academy Press. 1994
11 USDHHS (US Department of Health and Human Services). Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People: A Report of the Surgeon General, 1994.
12 Roemer R. Legislative action to combat the World Tobacco Epidemic (2nd edition). Geneva, WHO. 1993.
13 CDC, "Changes in the Cigarette Brand Preference of Adolescent Smokers, U.S. 1989-1993," MMWR, (August, 1994).
14 Pierce, J. et al, "Tobacco Industry Promotion of Cigarettes and Adolescent Smoking," Journal of the American Medical Association 279(7): 511-505 (February 1998) [with erratum in JAMA 280(5): 422 (August 1998)].
15 Evans, N., et al., "Influence of Tobacco Marketing and Exposure to Smokers on Adolescent Susceptibility to Smoking," Journal of the National Cancer Institute 87(20): 1538-45 (October 1995).
16 American Cancer Society, UICC. The Tobacco Atlas, (2006).
17 Luk Joossens, The Effectiveness of Banning Advertising for Tobacco Products, 2nd Edition (UICC, July 2000); http://www.ash.org.uk/html/advspo/html/experience.html
18 Gerard Hastings et.al, "Evaluation of the Comprehensive Ban on Tobacco Advertising and Promotion in the United Kingdom: Initial Findings from the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Survey," International Tobacco Control/The Centre for Tobacco Control Research, 2004.
19 Health or Tobacco. An end to tobacco advertising and promotion. Toxic Substances Board. Wellington, New Zealand, 1989.
20 Laugesen M, Meads C. Tobacco restrictions, price, income and tobacco consumption in OECD countries, 1960-1986. British Journal of Addiction, 86, 1343-1354.
21 Laugesen M, Meads C. Tobacco restrictions, price, income and tobacco consumption in OECD countries, 1960-1986. British Journal of Addiction, 86, 1343-1354.
22 Jha P, Chaloupka FJ. Curbing the Epidemic: Governments and the Economics of Tobacco Control, World Bank, Washington, DC 1998.
23 Saffer, H., and Chaloupka, F. "The Effect of Tobacco Advertising Bans On Tobacco Consumption", Journal of Health Economics, vol.19, 2000.
http://www.uic.edu/~fjc/Presentations/Papers/W6958.pdf
24 For example see "ASH Briefing on Brand-Stretching," (1998), http://www.ash.org.uk/papers/brand.html
25 Ross Hammond, Addicted to Profit: Big Tobacco’s Expanding Global Reach (Washington: Essential Action/SF Tobacco Free Coalition, 1998); http://www.essentialaction.org/addicted/
26 Veto of Anti-Tobacco Law, Case Analysis: Argentina, Philip Morris, 7 December 1992; http://www.pmdocs.com/getallimg.asp?DOCID=2023333155/3160
27 Asaf Bitton, et al., Tobacco Industry Attempts to Subvert European Union Tobacco Advertising Legislation, Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, University of California, San Francisco, 2002; http://repositories.cdlib.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=c...
28 See for example World Health Organization, Fatal Deception: The Tobacco Industry's 'New' Global Standards for Tobacco Marketing (2001) http://www.who.int/tobacco/media/en/fatal_deception.pdf and National Center for Tobacco Free Kids, A Long History of Empty Promises: The Tobacco Industry's Youth Anti-Tobacco Programs (1999); http://tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets/pdf/0010.pdf.
29 "1995/96 Adspend by Media," Media, 7 February 1997.
30 Media, 7 June 1996.
31 ASH U.K., "Banning Tobacco Promotion: Ethical and Civil Liberties Issues," November 1997
http://www.ash.org.uk/papers/ethics.html
32 Luk Joossens, "How to Circumvent Tobacco Advertising Restrictions," March 2001, UICC.