TY - JOUR T1 - Worldwide news and comment JF - Tobacco Control JO - Tob Control SP - 302 LP - 305 DO - 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2012-050525 VL - 21 IS - 3 A2 - , Y1 - 2012/05/01 UR - http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/21/3/302.abstract N2 - All articles written by David Simpson unless otherwise attributed. Ideas and items for News Analysis should be sent to: David.Simpson@ctsu.ox.ac.ukSince early March, when a ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship took effect, health advocates have had their hands full monitoring what looks all too like tobacco companies and their agents trying to ignore, delay compliance with, or just get round the ban. Under the new regulations, no advertising of any sort is permitted anywhere, including in or outside shops or other points of sale, where cigarette packs alone may be displayed, and then only in places where consumers cannot take them directly themselves.Even before the ban took effect, cigarette companies appeared to be jostling for advantage. In January, for example, a large glittering camel sculpture in a glass case suddenly appeared in the middle of St Nicolas stairs, a central pedestrian way in the Gemmayze district, a key location for art exhibitions and a burgeoning centre of nightlife in the capital, Beirut. Camel cigarettes had only just been launched on the Lebanese market, and the solid camel's appearance coincided with a widespread billboard advertising campaign.After the ban, however, things became even more desperate. As the cigarette-adorned fascias of small- to medium-sized shops were replaced, it became apparent that many shopkeepers knew little about the new law. Some, questioned by health workers, confirmed that they received significant payment for renting out the spaces above their shop windows, and left it to the tobacco companies or their contractors to undertake the necessary alterations. However, some of the new fascias appeared to retain unmistakeably familiar elements of the cigarette brand colours and designs that were supposed to have been removed. A shop advertising both Camel and Winston brands before the ban, became a new-style Winston shop after it, using … ER -