[Intl-tobacco] Uganda: Report on BAT's "Rave & Soul" Easter celebration

[Robert Weissman]

Dear Friends,

Thanks to Izama Angelo of Uganda for spending part of his Easter weekend
monitoring BAT's latest efforts to hook Ugandan youth to their deadly
product. Now 6,000 shillings poorer (but two packs of cigarettes, 2 sets
of wineglasses, and a photo with pretty ladies "richer") he has this
excellent, detailed report to share.

For additional examples of industry promotional events see:

USA - OR: R.J.Reynold's "7 Pleasures of the Casbah"
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/aofm/0204/7pleasures.html

Romania - Winston concert
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/aofm/0204/romania.html

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BENSON AND HEDGES "RAVE & SOUL STREET JAM"
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          Kampala, Uganda
         ~ March 30, 2002 ~

           by Izama Angelo


The Rave & Soul Street Jam took place yesterday in Kampala. The occasion
was organized by one of Kampala’s popular nightclubs, Club Silk. The
Club is situated on 7th Street Industrial Area. This is the 2nd such
event sponsored by British American Tobacco Uganda (BATU) under its
Benson and Hedges Brand.

The event this year was timed to coincide with the Easter Holidays, one
of the most celebrated holidays by Uganda’s largely Christian
population.

The concert venue was heavily decorated with Benson & Hedges colors and
posters.  At the entrance all participants were given a yellow whistle.
Yellow and Black are the brand colors of the Benson and Hedges brand.
The whistle was part of the concert. Later the Masters of Ceremony would
engage the crowd by asking everyone to blow on their whistles.

This concert attracted a largely young audience. Despite the club’s
official policy of not allowing anyone below the age of 18, the concert
was packed with young people, some of them as young as 13 years of age.
One of the reasons for this, according to Club officials, is the
difficulty in telling the age of the people attending. However, the
concert organizers did not make any attempts to verify the age of anyone
attending. No one was asked his or her age. Even teenagers who looked
like teenagers were not asked to produce evidence that they were old
enough to attend.

This is not surprising though. This particular nightclub is popular with
urbanized youth. On ordinary days the club operates two wings: a
downstairs nightclub, Club Silk, and an upstairs section, Silk Royale.
The downstairs section, which was the club’s first, is popularly known
as the “scoobies” section because school kids patronize it. In fact, the
club’s image as a place for the younger population is partly responsible
for the opening of the upstairs section. In both sections the age policy
is not enforced. And in both sections cigarettes are sold to anyone who
can afford them.

Events at the Street Jam

The artists and performers invited to the concert were like the “Who’s
Who” of teenage entertainment. The three masters of ceremony were some
of the country’s most popular broadcasters. One of them, Collin
Serubiri, hosts a pop music show called Jam Agenda on WBS Television.
The program has been voted (mainly by teenagers) as one of the best
entertainment programs on TV. Another presenter, Mitch, of Sanyu FM is
host of the evening Drive show on 88.2 FM, a successful radio station
that operates an R&B format for a teen and young adult audience. The
third master of ceremonies, Dennis Mawanda is, likewise, a teenage role
model. He is known in Kampala as Dennis the Menace and works with
another FM station Radio 2.  However Denis is more famous for hosting
Karoake Shows at Sabrinas Pub in Kampala. The Karoake shows attract,
again, primarily teenagers who like R&B songs. The shows are very
popular, and Karoake Competitions are popular end-of-the-year events in
the city.

Like the MC’s, the performers seem to have been picked to appeal to the
young audience attending. The Street Jam organizers invited local
musicians and artists who are popular with the younger population.
Artists like Chameleon, Baby Cool, Kaweesa, Tempra Omona and dance acts
like the Obsessions are successful and have a huge teenage appeal. Many
like The Obsessions could also be called teenage role models. Also
invited were popular club DJ’s, including a famous Kenyan DJ, DJ Pingu.
Other events at the occasion included a fireworks display.

Tobacco at the Concert

The venue was heavily decorated by the brand colors of the B&H brand:
yellow and black. The staff operating the booths for drinks and
cigarettes all wore yellow T-shirts. Several booths were selling
cigarettes at 3000 Ugandan shillings, 500 shillings above the market
price. It turned out that this was because a huge promotion was taking
place.

The Promotion

For each packet of cigarettes bought, one would be entitled to win a
prize. Prizes ranged from B&H lighters to wineglasses and sporty
jackets. A customer would be required to take the packet of cigarettes
purchased to a booth located at the center of the event venue. The
well-lit booth was decorated with bright yellow colors and displayed
some of the possible gift items that a customer could win. At the booth
were beautiful girls. One would open the cigarette pack for the customer
and hand it to another colleague. The second girl would then hand the
customer a bowl with several pieces of paper. The customer was entitled
to any gift printed on the paper. If a customer purchased more than one
pack, they could get their picture taken with a Polaroid camera. (I
bought two packets of cigarettes and won two sets of wineglasses and had
my picture taken. I also spoke to the girls at the gift booth. One of
them was on vacation before University and about 19 years old). There
was no limit to how many packets of cigarettes one could buy. Several
people with boxes slung on their shoulders also sold cigarettes. They
would move in the crowd and serve customers.

The Masters of Ceremony announced several times that there was a
promotion to win gifts. One said “just buy yourself a packet of
cigarettes and win any of our fabulous gifts”.

Observations

Many of the Street Jam fans were young people. It is possible that a
large percentage of this group was below the age of 18. They were
attracted to the concert mainly by the entertainment. The performances
were deliberately designed for a young audience. This could be seen from
the selection of artists and performers invited. Many of the young
people were dressed in largely western fashion. According to one
bystander who remarked about the American gangster type wear, “there is
a lot of western lifestyle posturing by young people.” The dress and
attitude was decidedly western and so was the music played.

It is also my opinion that the concert organizers expected a young
audience and prepared for one. The lack of checks to verify how old
attendees was deliberate. There was never any genuine intention to
enforce an age restriction.  There was also a lot of money spent on the
event. It appears that BAT spared no expense to make the event
successful. The pre-event publicity was thick. And at the venue, giant
screens and projectors were used. Smoking was encouraged and several
young people could be seen smoking, including both young boys and girls.

This report is also online at:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/aofm/0204/uganda.html

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Anna White
Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control
Essential Action
P.O. Box 19405
Washington, DC 20036
Tel: +1 202-387-8030
Fax: +1 202-234-5176
Email: awhite@essential.org
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco