Stomping Butts In

Hollywood

Why are we so concerned about Hollywood?

Films continue to suggest that smoking is cool, refreshing and popular , indirectly persuading children to start smoking.

While Smoking In The Movies Doesn’tSell Tickets – Smoking In The MoviesDoes Sell Cigarettes.

Big Tobacco’s Marketing Experts and Independent Researchers Agree“We believe that most of the strong, positive images forcigarettes and smoking are created by cinema and television.We have seen the heroes smoking in ‘Wall Street’, CrocodileDundee’, and ‘Roger Rabbit’. Mickey Rourke, Mel Gibson,and Goldie Hawn are forever seen, both on and off the screenwith a lighted cigarette. It is reasonable to assume that films and personalities have more influence on consumers than a static poster of the letters from a B&H pack hung on a washing lineunder a dark and stormy sky. If branded cigarette advertising isto take full advantage of these images, it has to do more than simplyachieve package recognition – it has to feed off and exploit the image source” 1989 Phillip Morris Market Research Study

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It’s a matter of life and death,because children will see the films, take the influences withthem and begin smoking habitsthat will last their entire lives, many of which will be shortened due to tobacco use.

Laws restrict tobacco companiesfrom placing products in movies. but there are lots of other ways theycan pay out in the hopes that there will be product placement in the movie. Can you think of some waysthe tobacco companies might use to get their products in the movies?

Pay a particular star in the movieto use their product in the movie.

Send out free cigarettes or tobacco products to the set for the actors to use.

Why do they want their deadly products placed in movies?

While smoking in the moviesdoesn’t sell tickets – SmokingIn the movies does sell Cigarettes.

According to the American Lung Association research, 50 percent of PG-13 films contained tobacco, andof the films that do contain tobacco,82 percent included smoking by the lead actors, whom the organizationcontends most influence kids to smoke.

In Their Own Words“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 numberof occasions when I go to a movie and see apack of cigarettes in the hands of a leading lady.This is a sharp contrast to the state of affairs just a few years ago when cigarettes rarelyshowed up in cinema. We must continueto exploit new opportunities to get cigarettes on screen and into the hands of smokers”.

Can you believe that big tobaccohas also placed their products in Cartoons? And who do you thinkwatches those cartoons?

Did they stop there?

See if you can guess how manyseconds smoking was shown inthe following movies…

The following movies are G rated movies

Anastasia smoking was shown seconds

Hercules seconds

Alice in Wonderland seconds

Pinocchio seconds

17

9

323

271

In Space Jam the movie smoking wasshown a total of seconds.

117

Showed smokinga total of seconds.

206

101 Dalmatians showed smoking atotal of seconds.299

Smoking was shown seconds.243

Smoking was shown seconds.4

More Internal Documents

“Film is better than any commercial thathas been run on television or in any magazine, because the audience is totallyunaware of any sponsor involvement.”

“Recently there have been a number ofHigh-visibility feature films in which oneOr more of the central characters smokeA particular brand of cigarettes. This has Been happening because cigaretteManufactures have been paying for the Exposure.”

So what are some things wecan do to encourage Hollywoodto decrease smoking in movies?

Letter writing campaign

Notices in video/DVD rentals

Movie reviews in school paper

Movie reviews in local paper

Palm cards in video/DVD rentals

Movie nights (make noisewhen they see someone in the movie smoking or watch only movies that don’t have smokingin them).

Theater “Warnings”

Produce slides which can be playedbefore a movie starts.Slides may contain strong anti-tobacco warnings and/orprovide “truth” – Smoking in theMovies does not portray reality.

Magazine campaign (a letter writing campaign or use theirown business reply cards to mailback a pro health message rather than using tobacco advertisements).