JTI, owner of the Camel brand, and Marlboro owner Phillip Morris are understood to be trebling media spend on this year's MTV campaign to around £7m.
Retaining last year's strapline, 'Doesn't Smoke', the latest advertising is being launched without the backing of BAT. It claimed it had withdrawn because of criticisms from anti-smoking campaigners that last year's ads served to make the habit more attractive to teenagers (Marketing, July 11).
The MTV campaign, shown in 43 countries in Europe and the Commonwealth until the beginning of October and in 19 Asian countries from September 2, has again been created by TBWA.
This year's work features three new executions, all of which aim to emphasise the message that young people are deemed 'cool' by their peers for many reasons, none of which involve smoking.
COMMENT
The withdrawal of BAT from the so-called 'industry-wide' effort to make smoking appear unattractive to teenagers reduces the campaign's credibility even further.
The ads depict positive images of youth rather than negative effects of smoking - and leave the firms open to accusations that they do not work.
Research from the 2001 campaign showed approval of the message that you can be cool and not smoke, but few thought the ads would encourage peer pressure not to smoke.
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