Yao X, et al. Tob Control Published Online First:

tobaccocontrol-2014-051633 The China Tobacco Museum in Shanghai is the largest in China, consisting of seven pavilions of tobacco-related exhibits. A focus group and previous survey data revealed that the museum conveys messages that make tobacco use appealing. Of the pavilions, three were found to contain blatant misinformation about tobacco and tobacco consumption. We argue that the China Tobacco Museum is a platform for tobacco promotion, a form of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, and thus contravenes the FCTC. In the face of the tightening regulation for tobacco advertising and marketing, the tobacco industry continues to harness various communication chan-nels to promote their products. An existing but hard-to-notice platform in China is museums tai-lored for the promotion of tobacco. To date, there exist three tobacco museums, located in Shanghai city, Yunnan province and Shandong province. Among them, the China Tobacco Museum (abbre-viated as CTM hereafter) in Shanghai is the largest one with a size of 9617 m2 (figure 1). Opened in 2004, the CTM is also the first museum featuring tobacco-related exhibits in China. All the aforementioned tobacco museums are financially supported by the China Tobacco Monopoly, and the CTM’s first associate curator was also appointed as the deputy general manager of the Shanghai Tobacco Group Co, Ltd. The CTM is under the supervision and direction of the Shanghai Tobacco Monopoly Bureau. These museums have been recognised by local governments; for example, the CTM was recognised by the local government a