Cigarettes and movies
CIGARETTES AND MOVIES
Tobacco manufacturers know that the more familiar you are with cigarettes then the more likely it is that you will become a smoker. One way of making smoking feel more familiar to you is by including smoking characters in movies and on TV. If a movie or soap star is seen lighting up then a powerful visual message is sent to young people like you about the desirability of tobacco use.
A 2008 National Cancer Institute monograph concluded "The depiction of cigarette smoking is pervasive in movies, occurring in three-quarters or more of contemporary box-office hits. Identifiable cigarette brands appear in about one-third of movies. The total weight of evidence from cross-sectional, longitudinal and experimental studies indicates a causal relationship between exposure to depictions of smoking in movies and youth smoking initiation."
There is nothing new or ground-breaking about this blatant product placement. The relationship between celebrities being paid to smoke in movies is an old one with research showing that actors such as Joan Crawford, John Wayne, Barbara Stanwyck, Spencer Tracy, Clark Gable and Gary Cooper were all paid to promote smoking. Payments uncovered for one company, American Tobacco in 1937 alone amounted to $218,750, equivalent to $3 million in today’s economy. Individual actors earned up to $5,000 each year, equivalent to $75,000 today.
John Wayne told the public that cigarettes helped his voice – he died of lung cancer.
Barbara Stanwyck died from Emphysema (Chronic Obstructive lung Disease)
TV commercials for tobacco were banned in 1971 but the association with film and smoking continues. In 1990 the tobacco manufacturers agreed to end the habit of their cigarettes being ‘placed’ in movies. But many films feature an easily identifiable packet of cigarettes. Are we supposed to believe that these placements are just coincidence?
Lois Lane, a reporter who never smoked throughout her 40 years in Superman comics suddenly started smoking Marlboros in Superman II. The same film included a fight scene where Superman and the baddies threw a Marlboro truck back and forth across Lexington Avenue. That truck was specifically made for that scene. Even the aliens in ‘Men In Black’ were seen packing Marlboro.
In Titanic, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet both smoke, giving the impression that cigarettes are associated with romance and rebellion. It is estimated that in excess of 100 million viewers will watch that scene. Advertising of that nature is therefore priceless. The viewer believes the actors themselves personally endorse smoking but can this habit play a part in a successful career?
Star performers are society’s role models but are they telling us the truth?
The Movie Smoker is typically depicted as rich, attractive, popular and successful.
In the real world, smoking and passive smoking cause disease and death
In the real world, smoking is an expensive habit that causes addiction
In the real world, smoking is not a socially desirable behaviour
In the real world, smoking is not as common as the movies suggest
Movies are not showing smoking as the dangerous, destructive habit that it is. In 2007 and 2008 more than half of the films rated as suitable for viewing by young people featured smoking. Do you think this is a coincidence?
In 1983, Hamish Maxwell, president of Phillip Morris International (and later chairman of Philip Morris Companies, now Altria), highlighted the importance of smoking in the movies in a speech to his marketeers:
"Smoking is being positioned as an unfashionable, as well as unhealthy, custom. We must use every creative means at our disposal to reverse this destructive trend. I do feel heartened at the increasing number of occasions when I go to a movie and see a pack of cigarettes in the hands of the leading lady. This is in sharp contrast to the state of affairs just a few years ago when cigarettes rarely showed up on camera. We must continue to exploit new opportunities to get cigarettes on screen and into the hands of smokers.’"
The film industry needs to stop and think why they are depicting characters’ who smoke in their movies. Are they receiving incentives or do they just not realise the consequences of their actions?
A few, simple precautionary steps could be taken by the major studios, for example:
1] ROLL ON-SCREEN CREDITS ON
SMOKING FILMS certifying that nobody on
a production accepted anything from
any tobacco company, its agents or
fronts.
2] RUN STRONG ANTI-TOBACCO ADS IN
FRONT OF SMOKING MOVIES. Put them on
tapes and DVDs, too. Strong spots are
proven to immunize audiences.
3] QUIT IDENTIFYING TOBACCO
BRANDS in the background or in action.
Brand names are unnecessary.
4] RATE NEW SMOKING MOVIES “R”
to give parents real power to protect
children against the tobacco industry (Publicmediacentre.org 2002)
Complete censorship can be a delicate issue. Many will think that it will be an attack on the freedom of speech and expression. Many will say that movies do not always promote pro-social or healthy life choices but they sometimes reflect on what ‘exists’ in society. What is your stand? Did you ever think about it?
Figures such as Ariel, Peter Pan, Aladdin are shown smoking; they are all major characters and none of them are villains. They represent the dreams of children. Yeats’ words could best reflect the need for more consideration for our children’s dreams and future:
‘I have spread my dreams under your feet, tread softly because you tread on my dreams’.
So you think the film industry is treading softly on your dreams???
For more information, please visit http://www.smokefreemovies.ucsf.edu/