SPORTS MUST NOT PROVIDE SPACE TO MARKET MALADIES

Direct and surrogate ads of ultra-processed food and tobacco products influence young minds at sporting events. The govt must curb them and use celebrities to preach healthy lifestyles

THE directorate general of health services is said to have requested the Indian cricket board to stop displaying surrogate in-stadium advertisement of smokeless tobacco products endorsed by Bollywood celebrities and cricketers. This follows a report highlighting the large volume of surrogate advertising of gutkha products in cricket stadiums during the World Cup played in India last year.

The report revealed that, of all the ads for smokeless tobacco brands, 41.3 percent were displayed during cricket matches. Of these, 40.3 percent were shown during matches featuring the Indian team, while 37.8 percent were shown during the matches played by four other South Asian countries Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. There is no doubt about the intent behind the choice of these countries. Their large cricket-loving viewership was being targeted for the sale of tobacco products. While India has enacted strong legislation to ban the advertising, promotion and sponsorship of all tobacco products, surrogate advertising has been rampant on the electronic media as a gateway to surreptitious product promotion.

The study on advertising during the World Cup was conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) along with Vital Strategies, an international health NGO. The authorship of a leading government science agency like the ICMR renders the report less vulnerable to the tobacco industry's reflexive attack that internationally-funded NGOs are aiming to weaken Indian economy by reducing tobacco consumption—an evasive tactic it has often employed in the past to divert attention from the health harms of tobacco.

It remains to be seen if the health ministry's appeal would influence a powerful body like the cricket board to curtail surrogate advertising of tobacco products, prioritising public health over revenue.