Intertextuality, Tobacco Sponsorship of Sports, and Adolescent Male Smoking Culture

Abstract

This article uses the concept of intertextuality (Kristeva, 1984) to analyze the sport sponsorship strategies of tobacco manufacturers in Canada; it is based on evidence taken from tobacco industry documents that were publicly accessible from Canadian and U.S. court proceedings. Through commissioned research on adolescent male smoking, the industry has endeavored to isolate those groups most likely to start smoking; then, it has sought to reach and influence these groups through sponsored activities that link the sponsoring cigarette brands intertextually to desirable, peer-defined attributes, identities, and personalities. The article focuses on the sponsorship strategies of the following three Canadian cigarette brands: Player's, Export `A,' and Dunhill. They are manufactured by Imperial Tobacco Ltd., JTI-Macdonald Corp., and Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc., respectively.