Cigarette advertising on taxicabs in Boston, Massachusetts (USA).
OBJECTIVE
To examine the frequency of tobacco advertisements on taxicabs within Boston, Massachusetts (USA).


METHODS
At seven locations throughout Boston, an observer counted all taxicabs over 30-minute periods in December 1995.


METHODS
Confirmed sightings of taxicabs with cigarette advertisements were recorded with information collected on the cigarette brand and taxicab company.


RESULTS
A total of 314 taxicabs were observed over 210 minutes of observation time, including 127 (40.4%) with cigarette advertisements. Taxicabs with cigarette advertisements were seen once every 1.65 minutes on average, with Marlboro as the most frequently advertised brand (69 of 127 advertisements, 54.3%). Less affluent locations were serviced by greater proportions of taxicabs carrying cigarette advertisements compared with more affluent locations (odds ratio = 2.08, 95% confidence interval = 1.18-3.68).


CONCLUSIONS
Taxicabs represent a major form of exposure to cigarette advertising in Boston.
Sesso
H D
HD
Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. hsesso@hsph.harvard.edu
Kawachi
I
I
D000329:Advertising; D006801:Humans; D008404:Massachusetts; D018986:Motor Vehicles; D012907:Smoking; D014481:United States