USING COMMUNITY FESTIVALS TO STRENGHTHEN IMPLEMENTATION OF THE - - PDF document

USING COMMUNITY FESTIVALS TO

STRENGHTHEN IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BAN ON SURROGATE ADVERTISING

DEVIKA CHADHA

ROP 20

Track 4

BAN ON SURROGATE ADVERTISING

DEVIKA CHADHA Background

• India is a country deeply influenced by many

religions and cultures

• Cultural events are a great platform to

promote any product given the mass following

• No of Marquees in Mumbai for the Ganesh

festival (2011): 12400

• Salaam Bombay Foundation started tracking

violations in 2008

Objective

• To advocate for a ban of surrogate

advertising of tobacco products during the festival

ROP 20 Track

Disclosure of Interest: None Declared

Surrogate advertising in marquees which attract lot of advertisements

ROP 20 Track

Disclosure of Interest: None Declared

STRATEGY

3 months prior

• Educating marquee committees on the

law

Beginning of festival

• Monitoring to see if the marquee has

any violation

During festival

• Reporting violations to the authorities.
• Following up to see if the violating ads

have been removed by the authorities.

In July 2011 civic authorities issued an official circular in all marquees and a suspension of license in case of violations

BAN ON SURROGATE ADVERTISING

DEVIKA CHADHA

• No. of pandals where tobacco advertizing was

eliminated

e

ROP 20 Track

Disclosure of Interest: None Declared

BAN ON SURROGATE ADVERTISING

DEVIKA CHADHA

Each Individual Marquee has turned down advertisemen ts worth

• approx. USD

50,000- 75,000 to implement the law.

Conclusion

• Taking organizers of public events,

stakeholders and policy makers into confidence can lead to effective implementation of the Tobacco Control Law , here the ban on all tobacco direct and indirect advertising

• Advocacy during festivals, provides another
• pportunity to reach large segments of the

population with key tobacco control messages