Leading tobacco company Philip Morris International has exploited loopholes in the law banning the advertisement of smoking products in Israel, targeting ultra-Orthodox (haredi) communities in Israel with advertising campaigns.
A new research study conducted by doctoral student Amal Khayat and led by Dr. Yael Bar-Zeev along with researchers at the Hebrew University’s Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine was recently published in the academic journal Tobacco Control under the title “PMI’s IQOS and cigarette ads in Israeli media: a content analysis across regulatory periods and target population subgroups.”
Analyzing the marketing data of Philip Morris International, the researchers examined the differences in advertising expenditure over a four-year period across several major population groups in Israel — the general population, the haredi public, Arab speakers and Russian speakers.
IDDP's Lorien Abroms helped conduct the study.