Ceylon Tobacco advertising flavoured cigarettes

Background

Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC (CTC) holds the monopoly of cigarette manufacturing and sales in Sri Lanka. It is a subsidiary of British American Tobacco (BAT), which owns 84.13% of the shares as at 31 December 2021. Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC (CTC) has launched several flavoured cigarette products, which are currently banned, during its history in the Sri Lankan market. Read more about The Case Study on Flavoured Cigarettes in Sri Lanka. According to the NATA Act, Act No. 27 of 2006 on NATA, which is the legal framework for alcohol and tobacco prevention in Sri Lanka, promotion of tobacco products, flavoured or not, and/ or brands are also prohibited. Read more about NATA Act National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) Act.

Advertising flavored cigarettes

A video titled “When you're treating Gentleman at his BEST - Lifestyle TVC” was discovered during our investigation on tobacco industry’s social media campaigns. The first appearance of this video that we could find was on Hiroshan Waduge’s YouTube channel, which was in 2017. The same video was published again in 2021 on the X10 Productions Private Limited’s YouTube channel. X10 Productions Private Limited have titled it “Dunhill Digital Video” and mentions Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC (CTC) as the client.

Image 1: Hiroshan Waduge’s YouTube Channel. Source: Youtube

In this video, a man showcases his success, but at no point is tobacco mentioned, neither in the images nor in the voiceover. However, at the end of the video, it says, "Gentlemen, this is taste," potentially implying flavored cigarettes.

Image 2: X10 Production’s YouTube Channel. Source: YouTube

TobaccoUnmasked Resources

• The Case Study on Flavoured Cigarettes in Sri Lanka
• Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC (CTC)
• British American Tobacco (BAT)
• National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) Act
• Hiroshan Waduge
• X10 Productions Private Limited
• Phoenix Ogilvy (Pvt) Ltd

The local language translations