International Marketing Standards

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The International Marketing Standards is a self-regulatory document approved by major tobacco companies, which sets a baseline for acceptable tobacco marketing worldwide. The cornerstones of the standards are:

Ensuring that our brand marketing has no particular appeal to youth
Restricting youth exposure to tobacco marketing
Ensuring that adult smokers are appropriately informed about the risks of smoking
Recognizing that it is right to restrict our marketing activities given the nature of our product
Encouraging other tobacco companies to join with us

Why the International Marketing Standards?

The Standards are important. They codify marketing approaches and behaviors across the whole industry and around the world. Marketing-related terms are defined, dimensions are specified, ambiguities are minimized, and all this is brought together in a single document. The standards are based on the following principles:

No responsible person wants minors to smoke, and neither do tobacco companies. We want to do everything reasonable to ensure that cigarette advertising, sampling, promotion and distribution are directed at adult smokers and not at youth. This is a goal we share with society at large.
We have a right to communicate with informed adults. The Standards ensure that smokers are informed about the health risks of smoking, and therefore make an informed choice.
The unique nature of the product requires us to market the product responsibly. This new document represents the minimum Standards by which we will judge ourselves, on a worldwide basis.
We support sensible government regulation of tobacco, and will seek to incorporate these Standards into national laws, wherever possible, or into agreements that ensure effective local implementation. In countries where existing arrangements are more restrictive, those existing agreements or laws will of course continue to be followed.