In an effort to curb what its chief executive calls “the scourge of every community,” the Ontario Convenience Stores Association (OCSA) has launched a billboard campaign in Toronto alerting consumers to the dangers of contraband cigarettes.
The billboard campaign, which debuted in Thunder Bay in mid-July and subsequently rolled out in other Ontario regions including Cornwall, Kingston and Niagara, will run for 10 weeks. It includes 36 billboards throughout East York, North York, Scarborough and downtown Toronto.
The first piece of creative shows a baggie of cigarettes alongside a pack of what appear to be legitimate cigarettes that are labeled “Illegal Cigarettes.” The accompanying message reads “Don’t be fooled! Illegal smokes come in baggies…and packs. Buying contraband is illegal and harms the community.”
A second billboard, debuting later this month, will highlight the fines people could face – ranging from $500 to $2,500 – for purchasing contraband tobacco. Creative for the campaign was developed by Saint-Jacques Vallée Y&R in Montreal.
While the federal and provincial governments have both suggested that education is one of the keys to minimizing and correcting the growth of contraband cigarettes in the country, OCSA CEO Dave Bryans told Marketing that there has been little action.
“So far, nobody’s done anything except twiddle their thumbs,” said Bryans, noting that the provincial government thwarted a previous in-store campaign by the OCSA that ran in London, Ont. because it was deemed tobacco promotion under the Smoke Free Ontario Act.
Bryans doesn’t expect the billboard campaign to be as effective in curbing the purchase of contraband tobacco as in-store messaging, but said it demonstrates that the convenience store sector is proactively addressing the problem.
“It’s not going to hit a home run, but it’s just demonstrating that the convenience store sector is part of the solution,” said Bryans. “Because we sell tobacco, we’ve always been painted as the dirty retailer when we actually have the best interests of every community at heart to stop the growth of contraband tobacco.”
According to Bryans, between 30% and 35% of all tobacco products sold in Ontario are contraband. “It’s a huge number,” he said. “We estimate [the government] has left almost $1 billion on the table by not collecting taxes.”
The impact of contraband tobacco on the convenience channel – which accounts for approximately 90% of all legitimate cigarette sales in the province – is immense, said Bryans. Tobacco products not only account for between 40-65% of some convenience stores’ daily sales, he said, but also help drive sales of other items.
“If 30% of [store owners’] business has been sent to the trunks of cars, they don’t sell chips, pop, bottled water because those are impulse items,” said Bryans. “It has a trickle-down effect on the whole business model, and my job is to try and minimize it and educate people that it’s wrong.”
Part of the allure of contraband tobacco is the enormous price discrepancy. A bag of 200 contraband cigarettes can be purchased for as little as $10, said the OCSA, compared with between $75 and $90 for a carton of legitimate products.
“Contraband tobacco is the scourge of every community… It’s infiltrating our high schools, our factories, our senior’s homes, our apartment buildings,” said Bryans. “It’s become part of society instead of an illegal part of society.”
The OCSA represents 7,500 convenience stores with a combined $13 billion in annual sales.
