What do cigarettes and combustion engines have in common?
It is clear that combustion processes take place in cigarettes (or cigars) as well as in petrol or diesel engines. And it is also clear that this is not entirely without emissions.
But recently there has been another thing in common. The Dutch city of The Hague (with a population of around 556,000) has banned advertising for cars with combustion engines from the beginning of 2025. Advertising bans for cigarettes (or cigars) have been around for some time.
Now that politicians have failed to implement their environmental plans with promotional measures, they are resorting to restrictions on freedom of communication. Incidentally, this is nothing new in the automotive sector either; in France, advertising restrictions have been in place for some time if the car being advertised emits a certain amount of CO2. After all, you only have to show alternatives with a better eco-balance.
By preventing advertising, it is now hoped that car buyers will voluntarily opt for electric cars. Unfortunately, they forget that these electric cars are by no means good for the environment because of the emissions produced during power generation and construction, even if they do produce (almost) zero emissions locally. But this may not matter to a city administration, after all, they want to optimize their own front door.
Incidentally, it is undisputed that advertising can influence the behavior of buyers. Why else would there be so many SUVs on the road today?
And what does all this have to do with classic cars? Relatively little today, but the cars being sold today will be the classic cars of tomorrow (or not) in 30 years' time ...
