Analysis of the logic and framing of a tobacco industry campaign opposing standardised packaging legislation in New Zealand

Waa, Andrew; Hoek, Janet; Edwards, Richard; Maclaurin, James

doi:10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2016-053146

Cited by 17 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…This would helpfully supplement existing analyses of tobacco industry arguments which have drawn mainly on public consultation data and advertisements. [19, 33–35, 68] This deficit could be addressed in future studies by comparatively analysing pre-identified industry-linked Twitter profiles and content, using a method similar to that of Kavuluru & Sabbir’s (2016) work on e-cigarettes[69]. This approach could also add to existing literature [19, 34] by unearthing previously hidden relationships between tobacco companies and supposedly independent third-parties and could also be extended to other health-harming industries, such as alcohol and sugar-sweetened beverage producers and retailers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tweeting about public health policy: Social media response to the UK Government’s announcement of a Parliamentary vote on draft standardised packaging regulations

et al. 2019

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Background Standardised tobacco packaging has been, and remains, a contentious policy globally, attracting corporate, public health, political, media and popular attention. In January 2015, the UK Government announced it would vote on draft regulations for the policy before the May 2015 General Election. We explored reactions to the announcement on Twitter, in comparison with an earlier period of little UK Government activity on standardised packaging. Methods We obtained a random sample of 1038 tweets in two 4-week periods, before and after the UK Government’s announcement. Content analysis was used to examine the following Tweet characteristics: support for the policy, purpose, Twitter-user’s geographical location and affiliation, and evidence citation and quality. Chi-squared analyses were used to compare Tweet characteristics between the two periods. Results Overall, significantly more sampled Tweets were in favour of the policy (49%) in comparison to those opposed (19%). Yet, at Time 2, following the announcement, a greater proportion of sampled tweets opposed standardised packaging compared to the period sampled at Time 1, prior to the announcement (p<0.001). The quality of evidence and research cited in URLs linked at Time 2 was significantly lower than at Time 1 (p<0.001), with peer-reviewed research more likely to be shared in positive Tweets (p<0.001) and in Tweets linking to URLs originating from the health sector (p<0.001). The decline in the proportion of positive Tweets was mirrored by a reduction in Tweets by health sector Twitter-users at Time 2 (p<0.001). Conclusions Microblogging sites can reflect offline policy debates and are used differently by policy proponents and opponents dependent on the policy context. Twitter-users opposed to standardised packaging increased their activity following the Government’s announcement, while those in support broadly maintained their rate of Twitter engagement. The findings offer insight into the public health community’s options for using Twitter to influence policy and disseminate research. In particular, proliferation of Twitter activity following pro-public health policy announcements could be considered to ensure pro-health messages are not overshadowed by anti-regulation voices.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tweeting about public health policy: Social media response to the UK Government’s announcement of a Parliamentary vote on draft standardised packaging regulations

et al. 2019

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“…This is unsurprising given online media is not currently restricted by tobacco regulations. An example of this was seen in British American Tobacco (BAT) New Zealand’s online media campaign ‘Agree–Disagree’, which was launched to undermine the New Zealand government’s plain packaging consultations 3. Given TTCs’ aggressive record of undermining tobacco control policies,2–5 bidding for political support,17 continuing advertising and promotion through covert means18–21 and long-standing history of attempting to improve their image through CSR activities,6 it is important to monitor the content being published by TTCs on social media.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘We have a rich heritage and, we believe, a bright future’: how transnational tobacco companies are using Twitter to oppose policy and shape their public identity

2018

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“…Concurrently, in all cases TNCs used arguments about their legal rights and obligations, free choice, 'Nanny State' and freedom of intellectual property right, as they had done to oppose food-marketing policy in Chile (60), and reminiscent of the tobacco and alcohol industries' strategies (87). In Chile and Mexico, SSB companies argued against the tax on the basis of the right of free consumption, while in Colombia they applied litigation measures to CSO advertising against consuming SSBs outlining the health risk this implies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Political Economy of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Taxation in Latin America: Lessons from Mexico, Chile and Colombia

Carriedo

Koon

Encarnación

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background: In Latin America, diet-related non-communicable diseases and sales of sugar-sweetened beverages continue to rise at an alarming rate. Calls for action suggest "multi-sector" and "multi-stakeholder" approaches involving civil society and the private sector, including transnational corporations. While the focus has often been on forming “partnerships” of public and private sectors, ensuring the primacy of public health goals remains a significant governance challenge. This paper analyses this governance challenge using the experiences of Chile, Mexico and Colombia in the adoption of taxation of sugar-sweetened beverages. The three countries offer useful comparisons given their similar political and economic systems, institutional arrangements and regulatory instruments. We conducted a qualitative synthesis of the existing empirical evidence applying a political economy analysis to identify successes and failures during the policy process to adopt and implement the tax.Results: The findings suggest that a major constraint was the political influence of transnational corporations in the policy process and on stakeholders. Intergovernmental support was critical to frame the sugary drinks beverages (SSBs) tax aims, mechanisms and its benefits, and for countries to adopt the measures. Coalitions for and against the tax were critical for the policy debates, and a lack of transparency throughout the agenda setting was diluted by powerful TNCs presences in the countries studied.Conclusion: Governance arrangements involving partnerships with private sector actors should recognize the asymmetry of power among them and address it. Such arrangements should adopt clear mechanisms to ensure transparency and accountability of all partners, and avoid the undue influence of unhealthy commodity industries. Support of several governmental entities simultaneously, grassroots groups, and civil society groups in NCD prevention policies is also needed.

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Analysis of the logic and framing of a tobacco industry campaign opposing standardised packaging legislation in New Zealand

Cited by 17 publications

References 7 publications

Tweeting about public health policy: Social media response to the UK Government’s announcement of a Parliamentary vote on draft standardised packaging regulations

Tweeting about public health policy: Social media response to the UK Government’s announcement of a Parliamentary vote on draft standardised packaging regulations

‘We have a rich heritage and, we believe, a bright future’: how transnational tobacco companies are using Twitter to oppose policy and shape their public identity

The Political Economy of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Taxation in Latin America: Lessons from Mexico, Chile and Colombia

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