Tobacco and e-cigarette promotion on social media: the case of German rap music

Abstract

German rap artists advertise hookah tobacco and electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) on social media. Advertising tobacco products on the internet is banned under European Parliament and the German Tobacco Products Act. Despite this, 26 out of 60 famous German rap artists have their own e-cigarette or hookah tobacco editions, which are promoted on social media platforms such as Instagram, Tiktok or Youtube. The products convey the image of the artists and appeal particularly to adolescents. In the interest of preventive health protection and the well-being of children, influencers should abide by the existing laws, social media platform operators should enforce existing laws more effectively and legislators should work towards a comprehensive advertising ban for tobacco and related products and consistently prevent marketing of tobacco and e-cigarettes to youth.