# Tobacco advertising on TV **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 2, 2003, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tobacco-advertising-on-tv/152212 "2003-02-02T01:39:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Opus1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/858c86/32.png) [@Opus1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Opus1)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tobacco-advertising-on-tv/152212/1 "2003-02-02T01:39:59Z")
I say an ad for a local tobacco shop today, and it got me thinking: I don’t think I’ve ever seen an ad for a tobacco shop on TV before. I know actual advertising of tobacco products isn’t allowed, but what about shops that sell tobacco? The ad even showed pictures of the cigars and tobacco being sold. How does this jibe with: [After January 1, 1971, it shall be unlawful to advertise cigarettes and little cigars on any medium of electronic communication subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Communications Commission](http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/15/1335.html) Does advertising a place that sells cigars count as advertising cigars themselves? Or is this completely legal, and I’ve just never seen such an ad before? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tobacco-advertising-on-tv/152212/2 "2003-02-02T02:25:56Z")
I think the keywords here are “cigarettes and little cigars.” It can be easily argued that the ban does not cover full-sized cigars or the places which sell them. (I know that “smokeless” tobacco advertising on television was banned in the mid-Eighties, but an extensive two minute Google did not bring up anything specific to cigars.)