The Impact of Smoking in Movies

Smoking in films is inconsistent with real smoking rates…

Although actual smoking rates are nearly half what they were 50 years ago, the number of incidences per hour of smoking in movies in 2002 exceeded the number of incidences per hour in films from 195011; and

• Although adult smoking rates have been steady or declining since the 80s, smoking in movies is more than twice as common now as it was during its all-time minimum between 1980 and 1982.12
  
  
• Research shows that adolescents are aware of the high prevalence of smoking in films; and that this perception of high smoking rates on screen leads to perceptions of high smoking rates in real-life, leading to exaggerated ideas of the numbers of peers and adults that smoke.13

…And this is no accident.

• In the 1980s, the 4 Major US tobacco Companies (Philip Morris,
  RJ Reynolds, Brown & Williamson, and American Tobacco
  Company) hired aggressive product placement teams to put
  tobacco products and signs in positive situations in films, and to
  prevent brands from being used in negative situations.14
  
  
• At least one of the companies, RJ Reynolds, had a program to provide free cigarettes to actors on a monthly basis.15
  
  
• Of the top 25 films each year between 1988 and 1997, more than 85% included tobacco use.16
  
  
• Tobacco brand product placement was found in 35% of those films rated for adults, 32% of films rated for adolescents, and 20% of films rated for children.17
  

"Our primary objective will remain the same, to have smoking featured in a prominent way, especially when it is tied favorably with celebrities."


- Letter written to President of RJReynolds Tobacco from its PR firm in 1981

• Although the tobacco industry adopted a voluntary ban on paid product placement in films in 1991, brand visibility did not decrease, and “actor endorsements” of tobacco brands in films increased from 1% to 11%.18

Smoking in movies has a huge impact on youth smoking.

• After controlling for other factors, 52.2% of youth smoking initiation can be attributed to exposure to smoking in films.19
  

  
  

• Youth with very high exposure to smoking in movies are 2.71 times more likely to smoke than those with the lowest exposure to smoking in movies.20
  
  

• And the effect of smoking in movies on smoking initiation is greater in youth with non-smoking parents.21
  
  
• Teens that are smokers are more likely than non-smokers to have favorite stars that smoke on and off screen. And nonsmokers that had favorite stars that smoke in films and in public are more susceptible to smoking than other non-smokers.22
  

References

11Glantz, SA, et al., “Back to the Future: Smoking in Movies in 2002 Compared with 1950 levels,” American Journal of Public Health 94(2):261-263, February 2004.

12Ibid.

"Many times we can get a display, a sign, a t-shirt, a logo, etc inserted into a positive scene, even when the product may not be used in the movie. This gives us a real life environment into which your name is used."

- John McGinn, Advertising Director for American Tobacco Company

13McCool, J et al., “Adolescents Perceptions of Smoking Imagery in Film,” Social Science and Medicine 52(10):1577-1587, May 2001.

14Mekemson, C, and SA Glantz, “How the Tobacco industry Built its relationship with Hollywood,” Tobacco Control 11(Supplement 1):i81-i91, 2002.

15Ibid.

16Sargent, J, et al., “Brand Appearances in Contemporary Cinema Films and Contribution to Global Marketing of Cigarettes,” Lancet 357(9249):29-32, January 2001.

17Ibid.

18Ibid.

19Dalton, MA, et al., “Effect of Viewing Smoking in Movies on Adolescent Smoking Initiation: A Cohort Study,” Lancet, June 10, 2003.

20Ibid.

21Ibid.

22Distefan, J, et al., “Do Movie Stars Encourage Adolescents to Start Smoking? Evidene from California,” Preventive Medicine 28(1):1-11, January

SmokeFreeMovies is a great resource to find movies with no tobacco product placement and loaded with activities to engage and educate youth.

Check out SceneSmoking.org,
home of Thumbs Up! Thumbs Down! -- the largest database of its kind on tobacco content in the movies.

Hollywood's Romance with BIG Tobacco, like any good Hollywood romance includes mystery, secrets, suspense and betrayal. Read all about it at New York State Reality Check Youth Action's web site.

Movie Fact Sheet (Contents of this page as PDF)