25 April 2025, Bangkok – Twenty years since the entry into force of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), critical gaps remain in tobacco control laws, allowing tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship (TAPS) to proliferate across Southeast Asia. Multiple forms of TAPS persist to attract new and existing customers, hindering efforts to prevent youth uptake and to help consumers quit, according to the 2024 Tobacco Advertising, Promotion, and Sponsorship Index, released today by the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance.
The Index reveals that the tobacco industry exploits loopholes in existing advertising restrictions to aggressively target consumers, including youths, through social media influencers, lifestyle events, promotional giveaways, and flashy packaging.
Status of policies governing tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship in the ASEAN region
Even in countries that ban advertising in mass media and at point-of-sale, product displays at retail outlets are used to advertise and promote these harmful products, often strategically placed near cash registers or near products that are attractive to children and youth.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities by the tobacco industry remain a key tactic to whitewash the harmful business of tobacco and gain favor with the public and policymakers, although six ASEAN countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand) have outlawed such CSR activities.
“The industry aggressively uses social media and e-commerce to market its harmful and addictive products, including electronic smoking devices (ESDs). Governments must act urgently to implement a complete ban on all forms of tobacco marketing to ensure that the public, especially the youth, is not exposed to these products,” noted Dr Ulysses Dorotheo, Executive Director of SEATCA.
Last 15 April 2025, Philippine advocates filed a formal complaint with the Department of Trade and Industry against Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corporation’s sponsorship of a DJ Steve Aoki concert in Taguig City dubbed “IQOS ILUMA x Steve Aoki”. They complained that the event uses a celebrity to promote and encourage use of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, violating RA 11900.
The TAPS Index 2024 concludes that while ASEAN countries have demonstrated commitment to tobacco control, regulatory gaps and weak enforcement are undermining public health objectives. A comprehensive ban is urgently needed to cover all forms of advertising, promotion, and sponsorship, coupled with rigorous monitoring and stricter enforcement with penalties, especially within the digital landscape. Stronger legal frameworks and consistent oversight are vital to minimize the tobacco industry’s influence and safeguard future generations from the detrimental health, social, economic, and environmental consequences of tobacco use.
Contact Information:
Ms Val Bugnot, Media and Communications Manager, SEATCA
Email: val@selatca.org
Mobile: +63 917 312 4600
About SEATCA
SEATCA is a multi-sectoral non-governmental alliance promoting health and saving lives by assisting ASEAN countries to accelerate and effectively implement the tobacco control measures contained in the WHO FCTC. Acknowledged by governments, academic institutions, and civil society for its advancement of tobacco control in Southeast Asia, the WHO bestowed on SEATCA the World No Tobacco Day Award in 2004 and the WHO Director-General’s Special Recognition Award in 2014. SEATCA is an accredited ASEAN entity and an official Observer to the WHO FCTC Conference of Parties.