Definition of surrogate advertising

Surrogate advertising is prominently seen in cases where advertising a particular product is banned by law. Advertisement for products like cigarettes or alcohol which are injurious to health are prohibited by law in several countries. Hence these companies come up with several other products that have the same brand name and indirectly remind people of the cigarettes or alcohol of the same brand by advertising the other products. Common examples include Fosters and Kingfisher beer brands, which are often seen to promote their brand with the help of surrogate advertising.

Traditional media such as radio, TV newspapers generally consume these media for the editorial content. For this reason the media audience for these surrogate media will always be distinct from the brand's target audience. This will give an advantage to the specialist magazine.