Background:
Research in high-income countries shows that exposure to point-of-sale (POS) product displays encourages youth smoking, promotes impulse purchasing, and undermines quitting, and that there is strong public support for POS advertising bans. Brazil banned tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship (TAPS) in most channels in 2000 and POS advertising in 2014. However, public awareness of tobacco promotion remains high in Brazil compared to other countries, and POS product displays are still permitted.This study evaluated the impact of the 2014 Brazil POS advertising ban, and assessed public support for complete bans on in-store advertising and POS displays.

Methods:
Data were from Waves 1-3 of the ITC Brazil Survey, a cohort survey of approximately 1200 adult smokers and 600 non-smokers residing in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Porto Alegre. Waves 1 and 2 were conducted before the 2014 POS advertising ban (2009 and 2012-13), and Wave 3 was conducted after the ban (2016-17). Data were analyzed using GEE logistic regression models.

Results:
From 2009 (pre-ban) to 2016-17 (post-ban), noticing things that promote smoking decreased among smokers (42.3% to 34.4%, p< .01) and non-smokers (34.0% to 25.8%, p< .05). Following the 2014 POS advertising ban, 19.9% of smokers and 20.0% of non-smokers noticed signs/items with cigarette logos in stores; 61.3% of smokers and 58.5% of non-smokers noticed cigarette displays in stores. There was strong support for complete bans on in-store advertising (74.2% smokers, 87.8% non-smokers) and POS cigarette displays (71.9% smokers, 85.5% non-smokers); and generally no differences in support between cities.

Conclusions:
TAPS bans in Brazil have reduced exposure to tobacco marketing, but POS advertising continues to be visible. These findings demonstrate that Brazil should implement a complete ban on in-store tobacco advertising, including POS displays, and that such a ban would be supported by the majority of smokers and non-smokers.