In any case, the lower price of smuggled cigarettes leads to greater consumption than would occur otherwise. As the large transnational tobacco companies such as Philip Morris and British American Tobacco move into new markets around the world, they spend enormous amounts on advertising and promotion. Young people are especially affected by advertising messages, even when the messages are not specifically addressed to them. 11 Foreign cigarette advertising makes a deep impression in overseas markets. In China, highly advertised brands achieve wide recognition and consumer preference.
Tobacco companies adapt their advertising practices for developing countries, often across borders.
Although advertisements for cigarettes are banned in the mass media in Malaysia, the international tobacco companies use sham businesses to circumvent the ban. Travel agencies, record shops, bistros, and clothing stores, in a process known as brand stretching, carry tobacco brand names such as Peter Stuyvesant Travel or Salem Cool Planet. The companies sponsor contests for young men and women, and television documentaries show the winners enjoying their prizes. Not coincidentally, these television programs are received in neighboring Thailand and Singapore, which ban all forms of tobacco advertising and sponsorship. The FCTC should be able to ensure cooperation among nations to address these transnational issues.