ABSTRACT
Objective · To compare the prevalence of tobacco advertisement before and after implementation of the new edition of Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China and evaluate the effects of implementation of the new Advertising Law. Methods · Tobacco sales places, public places, and streets in Shanghai were randomly selected to observe tobacco advertisement and complete the survey. The survey was carried out in 10 districts of Shanghai in June 2015 with 10 tobacco sales places selected in each district, and in 4 districts of Shanghai in June 2016 with 25 tobacco sales places selected in each district. Sales places included convenient stores, tobacco stores, supermarkets, and kiosks. In addition, public transport waiting points, public transport vehicles, hospitals, shopping centers, restaurants, bars, and Internet cafes were selected into survey in 2016. Results · In 2016, the proportion of tobacco sales places having tobacco advertisement was lower than that in 2015, but the proportion of tobacco promotion behaviors was higher. In 2016, 128 public places and streets were investigated and only 1 had outdoor tobacco advertisement. Conclusion · The new edition of Advertising Law has significant effect on controlling tobacco advertisement, but tobacco sales places still have tobacco advertisement with various disguised promotion forms. Tobacco sales places have diversified business styles and minors often enter these places. It is recommended that a clear definition of disguised forms of tobacco advertisement should be made, tobacco advertisement at tobacco sales places needs to be supervised, the release of tobacco advertisement should be strictly reviewed, and existing tobacco advertisement should be severely punished, so as to prevent minors from exposing to tobacco advertisement and information luring smoking.