Imperial Brands is facing scrutiny over football-linked marketing for Rizla, after campaigners criticised youth-facing partnerships involving tobacco-adjacent products ahead of tighter advertising restrictions.
The FTSE 100 group, which owns Rizla, has been criticised over a collaboration with football fashion brand Lover’s FC during the 2026 World Cup period. The partnership included retro football shirts featuring Rizla branding, placing the rolling-paper brand into a cultural space closely associated with sport, fashion, social media, and younger audiences.
The issue has drawn attention because current rules do not treat rolling papers in the same way as tobacco products, while the Tobacco and Vapes Act is expected to tighten restrictions on advertising from June 2027. Health campaigners have argued that the activity uses a loophole before the new regime comes into effect.
Action on Smoking and Health has reportedly filed a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority. The complaint reflects concern that brands linked to smoking can use lifestyle partnerships and adjacent products to maintain visibility even as direct tobacco advertising remains tightly controlled.
The commercial issue extends beyond one campaign. Companies operating in regulated or socially sensitive categories face increasing scrutiny where marketing activity may be lawful but still reaches audiences beyond the intended consumer base.
Sport and fashion collaborations are particularly sensitive. Football culture has become a major channel for brands seeking visibility among younger consumers, while retro shirts, creator-led content, and social media drops can travel quickly beyond the original audience. That makes brand adjacency harder to control, especially when product categories are subject to health-related regulation.
The case highlights the narrowing gap between legal compliance and reputational risk. A campaign can be designed within the letter of existing rules, yet still become controversial if regulators, campaigners, or consumers believe it conflicts with the direction of public policy.
The Tobacco and Vapes Act is part of a wider tightening around products linked to public health. The direction of regulation is towards stronger limits on visibility, youth appeal, and indirect promotion. Companies in categories such as tobacco, vaping, alcohol alternatives, gambling, high-fat foods, and other sensitive sectors are increasingly expected to assess not only where advertising appears, but the cultural codes it uses.
Governance is becoming more central to marketing approval. Boards and senior marketing teams need to consider whether short-term visibility gains justify the risk of regulatory complaint, political attention, or reputational spillover. That calculation becomes more important when brands use partnerships rather than conventional media buys, because third-party creative environments can make control more complex.
The World Cup context adds scale. Major sporting events create intense competition for attention, and brands often seek indirect ways to connect with fans when official sponsorship rights are expensive or unavailable. Ambush-style proximity, cultural collaborations, and creator-led campaigns can all raise questions about audience targeting and brand responsibility.
Recent advertising trends have made those boundaries more fluid. Fashion collaborations, influencer content, limited-edition merchandise, and community-led sports pages can all function as marketing channels, even when they do not resemble traditional advertising. Regulators are increasingly being asked to decide how existing rules apply to newer formats.
Campaign approval processes in regulated categories need to include legal, compliance, reputation, and audience-risk review from the earliest stages. That review should cover imagery, partner selection, social distribution, likely audience composition, and how content might be shared outside the original campaign setting.
The scrutiny around Rizla shows how regulated-category marketing is being tested by cultural partnerships that sit just beyond traditional advertising definitions. As new rules approach, companies will face less tolerance for campaigns that appear to exploit gaps between current law and emerging regulatory intent.
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