Inquirer Editorial: Signs of excess in tobacco advertising

Children in Philadelphia's grittier neighborhoods need look no further than the corner store to find constant sales pitches for cigarettes. So city health officials trying to steer young people away from the dangerous habit have their work cut out for them.

The latest look at tobacco advertising in low-income neighborhoods makes the challenge clearer. The survey was released this week by the University of Pennsylvania School of Design and the city Department of Public Health.

At the corner shops, gas stations, and convenience stores where tobacco products are sold in these areas, retailers' windows are likely to be plastered over with ads for cigarettes. Advertising for sugary drinks is nearly as prominent. Such ads are even more prevalent at retailers that cater to low-income families enrolled in food-assistance programs, city health officials say.

In neighborhoods that already suffer from high rates of obesity, diabetes, and other illnesses, these advertising practices work against efforts to help people live healthier lives.

Given research showing that such ads can boost consumption of unhealthy products, the Health Department is right to decry the fact that so many city residents "go to and from work and school . . . inundated with ads for tobacco products, sugary drinks, and junk foods outside and inside retail stores."

Among the smart policy responses are long-standing efforts to boost the cost of smoking through hikes in cigarette taxes. Even teens who have been bombarded with advertising are less likely to start smoking at the legal age of 18 as the cost of the habit increases. That's why appeals to Harrisburg to boost the state's cigarette tax - and to impose taxes on smokeless tobacco for the first time - should continue.

As for limiting retailers' ad displays, there is some hope in a little-noticed change in city sign regulations enacted last year as part of an overhaul of the zoning code. The new rules limit ads to just 20 percent of the area of store windows and glass doors, which would mean a significant reduction of displays for many businesses.

The city is planning a months-long public education effort on the new sign rules before it enforces them, which is the right course. Other cities, including Boston, Los Angeles, Baltimore, and Austin, Texas, have found that imposing such limits improves aesthetics as well as visibility at corner stores, fostering a sense of greater public safety. And while Philadelphia's new restrictions don't target any particular type of advertising, they could well mean that fewer residents are confronted by such prominent advertising for products that cause so many health woes.