No Smoking Stalls

While walking in the Shibuya district in Tokyo, I heard a loud announcement in Japanese. When I turned my attention to where it was coming from, I came across a stand with about 8 people standing there and handing out tissues. It was a stand which was calling attention to pedestrians about the new law, no smoking in public areas. It was a strange experience due to the fact they were handing out tissues and some staff were just standing there. Could this make people take notice of them? To a tourist, definitely, but the local people probably are used to it now. Secondly, why tissues? This is a common advertising strategy used in Hong Kong, China and Japan. Normally a piece of card is placed within the pack which itself has information on it regarding about the product/service/announcement.
Back in London, the most 'freebie' given out is water/flavoured water, new companies in the drinks industry give them out to gain exposure and often it is popular with passers by and the company gets more awareness. Maybe UK can learn from the stalls in Japan and use it to promote 'Smokefree England'.