Hollywood's Response
Thanks to the leadership of members of Congress, and public health advocates' efforts, movie studios and their parent media companies have begun to implement policies to address this important public health issue.
In May 2007, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) announced a new ratings clarification to consider smoking as a factor when it rates movies, and a few studios have taken important first steps in adopting policis to reduce the harmful effects of on screen smoking. Read the studio policies below.
While important progress has been made, there is still work to be done as youth will continue to be exposed to billions of tobacco impressions each year through movies that are rated just for them.
In the summer of 2007, one movie, “Hairspray,” was tagged with a PG ratings descriptor to include “momentary scene smoking,” but the movie still had more smoking than the original 1988 release on which it’s based!
The Studios
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, the most recognized global family entertainment company, stated to Congress that it expected "depictions of cigarette smoking in future Disney-branded films will be non-existent." The company published a statement detailing a commitment to this issue in its 2008 Corporate Responsibility Report.
Disney has also inserted anti-smoking PSAs from Legacy's truth® and EX® campaigns on DVDs.
- Becoming Jane
- Blindness
- Brideshead Revisited
- City of Men
- Doubt
- Eagle vs. Shark
- Golden Door
- Gone Baby Gone
- Happy-Go-Lucky
- Miracle at St. Anna
- No Country for Old Men
- Reprise
- Smart People
- The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
- The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
The Weinstein Company
In 2006, former Maryland Attorney General Joseph Curran and 34 other Attorneys General requested that the MPAA and major studios show the foundation’s truth® youth smoking prevention PSAs before DVDs where images of smoking would be seen by youth. The Weinstein Company was the first company to voluntarily agree to insert PSAs from the truth® campaign onto its DVDs.
- 1408
- Awake
- Black Christmas
- Bobby
- Breaking and Entering
- Cassandra's Dream
- Clerks II
- Days of Glory
- Dedication
- Grace is Gone
- Hannibal Rising
- Harsh Times
- Miss Potter
- My Blueberry Nights
- Nanny Diaries
- Nomad: The Warrior
- Rogue
- School for Scoundrels
- Shut Up & Sing
- Superhero Movie
- The Ex
- The Hunting Party
- The Last Legion
- The Protector
- Who's Your Caddy?
Warner Bros. (A Time Warner company)
Working with the state Attorneys General, Waner Bros. is the first studio to inset a certification of no-tobacco payoffs for the inclusion of smoking in its movies. It has also agreed to place truth® anti-smoking PSAs in DVDs.
- Be Kind Rewind
- Chaos Theory
- Funny Games
- Harold and Kumar: Escape from Guantanamo Bay
- One Missed Call
- Run Fatboy Run
- Semi-Pro
- Snow Angels
- The Orphan
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