Skip to main content
PMC home page
American Journal of Public Health logoLink to American Journal of Public Health
. 2001 Jul;91(7):1100–1106. doi: 10.2105/ajph.91.7.1100

Counteracting tobacco motor sports sponsorship as a promotional tool: is the tobacco settlement enough?

M Siegel 1
PMCID: PMC1446704  PMID: 11441738

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to quantify television advertising exposure achieved by tobacco companies through sponsorship of motor sports events and to evaluate the likely effect of the Master Settlement Agreement on this advertising. METHODS: Data from Sponsors Report, which quantifies the exposure that sponsors of selected televised sporting events receive during broadcasts of those events, were compiled for all motor sports events covered by the service for the period 1997 through 1999. RESULTS: From 1997 through 1999, tobacco companies achieved 169 hours of television advertising exposure and $410.5 million of advertising value for their products by sponsoring motor sports events. If tobacco companies comply with the Master Settlement Agreement and maintain their advertising at 1999 levels, they will still be able to achieve more than 25 hours of television exposure and an equivalent television advertising value of $99.1 million per year. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a federal ban on tobacco advertising on television, tobacco companies achieve the equivalent of more than $150 million in television advertising per year through their sponsorship of motor sports events. The Master Settlement Agreement likely will do little to address this problem.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (90.4 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Aitken P. P., Leathar D. S., O'Hagan F. J. Children's perceptions of advertisements for cigarettes. Soc Sci Med. 1985;21(7):785–797. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(85)90127-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bates C. Tobacco sponsorship of sport. Br J Sports Med. 1999 Oct;33(5):299–300. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Blom E. D. Tobacco free at the Indianapolis 500. Indiana Med. 1996 Mar-Apr;89(2):207–209. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Blum A. The Marlboro Grand Prix. Circumvention of the television ban on tobacco advertising. N Engl J Med. 1991 Mar 28;324(13):913–917. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199103283241310. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Charlton A., While D., Kelly S. Boys' smoking and cigarette-brand-sponsored motor racing. Lancet. 1997 Nov 15;350(9089):1474–1474. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(97)26046-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Connolly G. N., Orleans C. T., Blum A. Snuffing tobacco out of sport. Am J Public Health. 1992 Mar;82(3):351–353. doi: 10.2105/ajph.82.3.351. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Corti B., Donovan R. J., Holman C. D., Coten N., Jones S. J. Using sponsorship to promote health messages to children. Health Educ Behav. 1997 Jun;24(3):276–286. doi: 10.1177/109019819702400302. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Dewhirst T. Tobacco sponsorship is no laughing matter. Tob Control. 1999 Spring;8(1):82–84. doi: 10.1136/tc.8.1.82. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Epps R. P., Lynn W. R., Manley M. W. Tobacco, youth, and sports. Adolesc Med. 1998 Oct;9(3):483-90, vi. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Holman C. D., Donovan R. J., Corti B., Jalleh G., Frizzell S. K., Carroll A. M. Banning tobacco sponsorship: replacing tobacco with health messages and creating health-promoting environments. Tob Control. 1997 Summer;6(2):115–121. doi: 10.1136/tc.6.2.115. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Jama J. W., Launer L. J., Witteman J. C., den Breeijen J. H., Breteler M. M., Grobbee D. E., Hofman A. Dietary antioxidants and cognitive function in a population-based sample of older persons. The Rotterdam Study. Am J Epidemiol. 1996 Aug 1;144(3):275–280. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a008922. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Madden P. A., Grube J. W. The frequency and nature of alcohol and tobacco advertising in televised sports, 1990 through 1992. Am J Public Health. 1994 Feb;84(2):297–299. doi: 10.2105/ajph.84.2.297. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Meier K. S. Tobacco truths: the impact of role models on children's attitudes toward smoking. Health Educ Q. 1991 Summer;18(2):173–182. doi: 10.1177/109019819101800203. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Musk A. W., Shean R., Walker N., Swanson M. Progress on smoking control in Western Australia. BMJ. 1994 Feb 5;308(6925):395–398. doi: 10.1136/bmj.308.6925.395. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Olson C. K. Countering pro-tobacco influences at the racetrack. Am J Public Health. 1999 Sep;89(9):1431–1432. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Powles J. W., Gifford S. Health of nations: lessons from Victoria, Australia. BMJ. 1993 Jan 9;306(6870):125–127. doi: 10.1136/bmj.306.6870.125. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Vaidya S. G., Naik U. D., Vaidya J. S. Effect of sports sponsorship by tobacco companies on children's experimentation with tobacco. BMJ. 1996 Aug 17;313(7054):400–400. doi: 10.1136/bmj.313.7054.400. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Vaidya S. G., Vaidya J. S., Naik U. D. Sports sponsorship by cigarette companies influences the adolescent children's mind and helps initiate smoking: results of a national study in India. J Indian Med Assoc. 1999 Sep;97(9):354-6, 359. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from American Journal of Public Health are provided here courtesy of American Public Health Association

RESOURCES