Objective: To know the situation of tobacco advertisement, promotions and related factors in six cities in China.
Methods: 4815 adults (above 18 years), selected form Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang, Changsha, Guangzhou and Yinchuan through probability proportionate sampling and simple random sampling, were investigated through questionnaires.
Results: The most commonly reported channels that smokers noticed tobacco advertisements were billboards (35.6%) and television (34.4%). The most commonly reported tobacco promotional activities that were noticed by smokers were free gifts when buying cigarettes (23.1%) and free samples of cigarettes (13.9%). Smokers in Changsha were more likely to report noticing tobacco advertisement on billboards (chi2 = 562.474, P < 0.00 1), and on television (chi2 = 265.570, P < 0.001). Smokers in Changsha (chi2 = 58.314, P < 0.001) were more likely to notice tobacco related news and games. A logistic regression analysis showed that the living and education level were related to awareness of tobacco advertisement and promotion.
Conclusion: It was universal to see tobacco advertisement and promotions in cities in China but the laws and regulations about tobacco-control were not uniformly executed in different cities. It is necessary to perfect and uniform related laws and regulations.