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In 2020, adjusted combined annual expenditures for cigarette advertising and promotion was $7.8 billion.
Background
Tobacco advertising and promotion are causally related to increased tobacco use. Cigarettes are one of the most heavily marketed products in the U.S. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has reported cigarette sales and marketing expenditures annually since 1967 and smokeless tobacco sales and marketing expenditures periodically since 1987. These reports highlight spending on advertising and promotion by the largest cigarette companies and major smokeless tobacco product manufacturers in the U.S. The sales and marketing expenditures reported include categories such as direct mail, Internet, point of sale, price discounts, coupons, sampling distribution, and sponsorships. In 2019, the Federal Trade Commission issued orders to six of the country’s largest domestic e-cigarette manufacturers to request similar information starting with the year 2015.
The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, signed into law on June 22, 2009, provides the U.S. Food and Drug Administration with broad authority to regulate tobacco product marketing. This legislation affirms state and community authority to regulate, among other things, the sale, distribution, access to, advertising and promotion of, or use of tobacco products.
Measure
Combined cigarette annual advertising and promotional expenditures by the parent companies of the major manufacturers of cigarettes sold in the U.S., adjusted, as reported by manufacturers to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
Combined smokeless tobacco annual advertising and promotional expenditures by the parent companies of the major manufacturers of smokeless tobacco products in the U.S., adjusted, as reported by manufacturers to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
Combined e-cigarette annual advertising and promotional expenditures by the largest U.S. domestic manufacturers, adjusted, as reported by manufacturers to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
Healthy People 2030 Target
- There are no Healthy People 2030 targets for reducing tobacco company marketing expenditures.
Healthy People 2030 is a set of goals set forth by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Data Source
Trends and Most Recent Estimates
Cigarettes
| Overview Graph | Detailed Trend Graphs | Most Recent Estimates (2020) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dollars spent (in billions) | 95% Confidence Interval | ||
|
Total Marketing Expenditures
|
7.8 | Not available |
Smokeless Tobacco
| Overview Graph | Detailed Trend Graphs | Most Recent Estimates (2020) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dollars spent (in millions) | 95% Confidence Interval | ||
|
Total Marketing Expenditures
|
576.3 | Not available |
E-Cigarettes
| Overview Graph | Detailed Trend Graphs | Most Recent Estimates (2020) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dollars spent (in millions) | 95% Confidence Interval | ||
|
Total Marketing Expenditures
|
719.9 | Not available |
Additional Information on Tobacco Company Marketing Expenditures
- A Broken Promise to our Children: A State-by-State Look at the 1998 Tobacco Settlement 23 Years Later. Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.
- Smoke Free Movies. UCSF Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education.
- Litigation Against Tobacco Companies. U.S. Department of Justice, Consumer Protection Branch.
- Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act—An Overview. U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Quitting Resources
- Smokefree.gov. National Cancer Institute.
- Tobacco. National Cancer Institute.
- How to Quit Smoking. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- North American Quitline Consortium. North American Quitline Consortium.
- Smokeless Tobacco and Public Health: A Global Perspective. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute. NIH Publication No. 14-7983; 2014.
- Monograph 19: The Role of the Media in Promoting and Reducing Tobacco Use. National Cancer Institute. Smoking and Tobacco Control Monographs.
- 2016 Surgeon General’s Report: E-Cigarette Use Among Youth and Young Adults. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- 2014 Surgeon General’s Report: The Health Consequences of Smoking–50 Years of Progress. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- 2012 Surgeon General’s Report—Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- Exposure to multimedia tobacco marketing and product use among youth: A longitudinal Analysis. Choi K, Rose SW, Zhou Y et al. Nivotine Tob Res 2020:22(6):1036-1040.
- Examining market trends in smokeless tobacco sales in the United States: 2011-2019. Delnevo CD, Hrywna M, Lo, EJM et al. Nicotine Tob Res 2020: epub
- Implementation and research priorities for FCTC Articles 13 and 16: tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship and sales to and by minors. Nagler RH, Viswanath K. Nicotine Tob Res 2013;15(4):832–846.
- Cigarette Brand Preference and Pro-Tobacco Advertising Among Middle and High School Students—United States, 2012-2016. Perks SN, Armour B, Agaku IT. MMWR 2018;67(4):119-124 .
- Association between receptivity to tobacco advertising and progression to tobacco use in youth and young adults in the PATH study. Pierce JP, Sargent JD, Portnoy DB et al. JAMA Pediatr. 2018:172(5):444-451.
- Tobacco Control: Advertising and Marketing. Public Health Law Center.
- Tobacco Use in Top-Grossing Movies – United States, 2010-2018. Tynan MA, Polansky JR, Driscoll D, Garcia C, Glantz SA. MMWR 2019;68(43):974-978.
- NCI sponsored Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population. U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Census Bureau.
- Smoking in the Movies. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- Tobacco Industry Marketing. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.