This short paper aims to increase understanding of tobacco companies’ advertising strategies. Time series data and intervention analysis methods are used to investigate whether tougher tobacco advertising legislation, and the threat of such legislation, result in firms significantly changing their advertising activities in the period preceding the enactment of legislation. The paper considers legislation introduced by both the UK Government and the EC in recent years. Results suggest that there is some significant short-term increase in advertising behaviour, coinciding with product launches that firms instigate prior to legislation changes. However, firms do not generally maintain higher advertising expenditures than previously throughout the period between legislation being introduced and coming into force.