Smoke Free Movies has launched a series of print advertisements in Variety and other publications. This advertisement first ran on November 3, 2010 in The Hollywood Reporter and Variety.

One in a Series

The film industry is being covered by a publication called Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report?

That can’t be good.

Two months ago, the CDC’s health surveillance journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report concluded that “effective methods” to reduce harm from on-screen smoking “should be implemented.”

The CDC then listed the methods, which are already well-known to the studios through direct communications from health authorities and from ads like this one. The four policy solutions are to:

• R-rate new films with smoking, except for actual historical figures who actually smoked (biopix, documentaries) and depictions of the dire health consequences of tobacco use,

• End tobacco brand display,

• Run strong anti-tobacco spots before all films with smoking, in all media, and

• Require producers to certify no tobacco payoffs.

Each month, mainstream movies with smoking deliver more than a billion tobacco impressions to domestic theater audiences. Every two months, they recruit another 30,000 new teen smokers.

As state attorneys general have told the studios, “There is simply no justification for further delay.”

By implementing these four solutions, the film studios can save tens of thousands of lives.

They can also go back to following their box office numbers in Variety. Instead of in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Download the U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s report, “Smoking in Top-Grossing Movies — United States, 1991-2009,” at tinyurl.com/cdc-movies

Smoke Free Movies?
Smokefreemovies.ucsf.edu

Smoking in movies kills in real life. Smoke Free Movie policies—the R-rating, certification of no payoffs, anti-tobacco spots, and an end to brand display—are endorsed by the World Health Organization, American Medical Association, AMA Alliance, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights, American Public Health Association, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Legacy, Los Angeles County Dept. of Health Services, New York State Dept. of Health, New York State PTA, and many others. Visit our web site or write: Smoke Free Movies, UCSF School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA 94143-1390.