What does “loi Évin oblige” mean?

Question

En 2016, Jennifer Le Néchet remporte le Diageo World Class, un des plus prestigieux concours dans le monde du bar. Peu médiatisé en France – loi Evin oblige –, ce « Top Chef » version cocktail trouve cette année-là un écho inhabituel dans la presse française, fière de célébrer cette première victoire hexagonale.

I don't understand these two expressions (highlighted in bold) I found in a news article. What do they mean?

Link to the article for context: https://www.lemonde.fr/m-gastronomie/article/2018/09/13/les-femmes-secouent-le-shaker_5354255_4497540.html

Answer 1

The first one, loi Évin oblige means "à cause de la loi Évin" ou "grâce à la loi Évin ", depending on whether you see the effect as negative (the former) or positive (the latter). This is equivalent to "because of" or "thanks to".

Here, it is seen as negative because the loi Évin restricts the advertisement of alcohol and tobacco. (thanks to @Luke Sawczak for the information)

Secondly, victoire hexagonale means a victory by a French entrant. This is because France is commonly referred to as "l'hexagone" due to its shape. And "hexagonale" means hexagon-shaped, so in this case it means "a victory for France".