Using tennis to sell death

Friday, 08 August 2008 23:32

The Davidoff Swiss Indoors tennis tournament is afflicted with a very serious kind of "doping" problem: it is hooked on tobacco money.

In Basel, from 31st October to 8th November 2009, the Swiss tennis event of the year has been hijacked once more by the tobacco multinational Imperial Tobacco and their like and turned into a global advertising operation for their strategic cigarette and cigar brand, Davidoff. An operation aimed at selling a deadly product. In brief: selling death.

The only tobacco sponsored tennis event in the world

The Basel tournament, which is on the ATP 500 series, is the only tennis event in the world which is sponsored by the tobacco industry. Yes, the tobacco industry, and not some "luxury good provider", as some falsely claim (see The Big Lie).  Such sponsorship is now illegal in most parts of the world, including all countries of the European Union. However, Switzerland does not belong to the EU and has very weak tobacco control legislation.

The massive presence of the Davidoff logo on the Centre Court, and the overwhelming presence of the tobacco executives from the Oettinger Davidoff group at all stages of the competition, make the event first and foremost a huge marketing operation for Davidoff and Imperial Tobacco, the owner of the brand.

At the many social events that surrounds the matches, tobacco promotion runs at full capacity, with lots of free cigarette and cigar samples being distributed to the guests.

Human billboards for Davidoff

During the tournament, the Davidoff logo is overwhelmingly visible everywhere. All members of the staff are transformed into human billboards for Davidoff. Even the very young ball girls and boys have the tobacco logo on their clothes.

At the end of the tournament, these kids receive a medal from the winner (Federer in 2008) in recognition of having served the cause of Davidoff so well. The medal bears the Davidoff logo, so as to ensure that these potential future smokers know which cigarette brand to chose when they start smoking.

Defeating TV advertising bans

Of course, what makes the event very valuable for Davidoff/Imperial Tobacco is that it is broadcast to the entire world, giving the Davidoff advertising maximum global coverage. According to the organizers, "banner advertising on the Centre Court reaches more than a billion people in 70 ountries round the world."

The camera operators of the Swiss national television, who produce the images of the matches, do not try to avoid the Davidoff logo. On the contrary, the placement of the cameras and of the logo on the Centre Court gives the Davidoff brand the maximum viewer impact. A French media measurement company has assessed that this generates the equivalent of more than one hour of top level television advertising for the Davidoff tobacco brand for the duration of the tournament.

Greatest viewers' impact, especially on kids

The promotional effect for the tobacco brand is ideal, as the audience, and specially the young, is captivated by the performance of the players and is defenseless against the advertising aspect of the images, which is an unseparable part of the images. One can easily predict that images of tennis idol Roger Federer fused in huge Davidoff logos will imprint young brains and leave a lasting subconscious impression that closely associates, and assimilates, the tobacco brand and Federer's fame, preparing the ground to make them smokers. In Switzerland alone, a small country, over 30'000 minors are trapped each year by the tobacco industry and start smoking. Half of them will not be capable of quitting, and half of those who cannot quit will be killed by smoking, losing on average 20 years of life.

What we want

What we want is simple. The Basel tournament should become tobacco free without delay. The organizers should get rid of the tobacco predators, who conceive sport only as a means of pushing their addictive and deadly product, notably to the youth. The Basel tournament should stop letting its name and reputation being tarnished by merchants of death. It should join the ranks of all other tennis events in the world, which comply without difficulty with the Tobacco Free Sport charter of the World Health Organization and don't need tobacco money to exist and even thrive.

"Sport fascinates, brings people together, gets people moving and gives them a sense of achievement. 'cool and clean' works for clean and fair sport so that young people always become winners." This is the spirit of sport being promoted by Swiss Olympic. Today, by compromising themselves and tennis in the Davidoff advertising plot, the organizers of the Basel tournament are more likely to make young people become losers rather than winners. They are clearly in an dead end. We press them to turn the page and make, at last, the Basel Tennis Indoors "cool and clean".