ABSTRACTBackground The World Health Organization FrameworkConvention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) bans allforms of tobacco advertising, promotion andsponsorship. The comprehensiveness of this ban has yetto be tested by online social networking media such asFacebook. In this paper, the activities of employees ofthe transnational tobacco company, British AmericanTobacco, (BAT) on Facebook and the type of contentassociated with two globally popular BAT brands (Dunhilland Lucky Strike) are mapped.Methods BAT employees on Facebook were identifiedand then the term ‘British American Tobacco’ wassearched for in the Facebook search engine and resultsrecorded, including titles, descriptions, names and thenumber of Facebook participants involved for eachsearch result. To further detail any potential promotionalactivities, a search for two of BAT’s global brands,‘Dunhill’ and ‘Lucky Strike’, was conducted.Results Each of the 3 search terms generated morethan 500 items across a variety of Facebook subsections.Discussion Some BAT employees are energeticallypromoting BAT and BAT brands on Facebook throughjoining and administrating groups, joining pages as fansand posting photographs of BAT events, products andpromotional items. BAT employees undertaking theseactions are from countries that have ratified the WHOFCTC, which requires signatories to ban all forms oftobacco advertising, including online and crossborderexposure from countries that are not enforcing advertisingrestrictions. The results of the present research could beused to test the comprehensiveness of the advertising banby requesting that governments mandate the removal ofthis promotional material from Facebook.
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