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 Daryl Hannah
Teams up with Legacy to Engage Film Students in Socially Responsible
Filmmaking
In an
effort to protect youth from the negative impact of smoking scenes in
movies, Legacy is asking aspiring filmmakers to think twice before using
cigarettes as props in film. Research shows movies influence more than
180,000 young people to become smokers each year. With
the help of actress and activist Daryl Hannah, Legacy
developed a six-minute documentary titled Redefining Cool.
 | | "Avatar" (2009) Screen Shot from Redefining Cool |
The
short film explores how movies have been used to normalize smoking and
how smoking imagery in movies can influence young people to light up
"I'm thrilled that I can lend my voice to help educate students about
the power they wield as filmmakers, and how actions they take can have
substantial impact on society," said Hannah.
Intended
for film students, the documentary outlines the history of Hollywood's
longstanding relationship with the tobacco industry, including the use
of paid product placements and cross-promotions. By providing the facts
about tobacco and its powerful influence in movies, public health
advocates are hoping that young filmmakers become educated and empowered
to use their creative license in ways that avoids promoting tobacco use
among youth.
Redefining
Cool can be found on the Legacy Facebook page: www.facebook.com/Legacy. Please share the film with
your friends and followers.
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Kids' TV Programs
Contain High Amounts of Tobacco Use
Parents' efforts to keep teens away from
tobacco could go  up in smoke
if their teens watch a lot of TV. A new report published this month in
the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine shows
substantial amounts of tobacco images in television programming most
popular with young people. The study conducted by Legacy examined more
than 70 episodes from shows like "Family Guy," "Gossip Girl," "Heroes"
and "The Simpsons," and found that 40 percent contain tobacco imagery.
The report shows that nearly one million young people were
exposed to tobacco images on television during the fall
2007 programming season, whether it was in an ashtray, on a billboard
or in a character's hands. Eighty percent of smokers start before age 18
and past research confirms a relationship between seeing tobacco images
on television and young people starting to smoke. The risk for youth
smoking initiation increases with more hours of TV viewing.
Additionally, smoking images in movies leads to an estimated 180,000 new
young smokers each year. Highlights of the report include:
- The percent of
episodes with any tobacco use depictions was highest on the FOX network
(44 percent) followed closely by the CBS-Warner Brothers program, "The
CW" (41 percent).
- Forty
(40) percent of television episodes reviewed contained at least one
depiction of tobacco use; of these depictions, 89 percent were of
cigarettes.
- Among
episodes rated TV-PG, 50 percent showed one or more incidents of
cigarette use, in contrast to 26 percent of TV-14 episodes, the more
stringent rating.
Read the full press release.
View Legacy's Smoking on Television Fact Sheet.
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Legacy
Hosts Panel Discussion Featuring CDC, Mad Men Documentary Filmmaker and
Telecommunications Expert to Discuss Smoking on Television
Smoking images continue
to permeate media, including movies but new findings from research in
the February 2011 Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine shows
that substantial amounts of tobacco images are present in television
shows popular among youth. To explore this emerging issue in tobacco
control as part of the Kenneth E. Warner Lecture Series, Legacy hosted a
panel discussion with leaders from public health and the entertainment
and telecommunications industry. The discussion included research on why
images of smoking in movies, media and on television have a profound
effect on youth smoking initiation and how the entertainment industry
can work with public health to curb its impact.
The panel was
moderated by David Dobbins, Chief Operating Officer, Legacy, and
featured:
- Ursula
Bauer, Ph.D., MPH, Director, National Center for Chronic
Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC
- Colin Crowell,
Crowell Strategies - Telecommunications, Technology Policy Expert,
formerly with the Federal Communications Commission and Congressman
Edward Markey
- Cicely
Gilkey, Producer, AMC's Mad Men Season 3 DVD documentary
Clearing the Air: The History of Cigarette Advertising.
To watch the archived
webcast, visit Legacy's website or click here.
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Mass Media
Cessation Campaigns Motivate Smokers to Become an Ex
A study published in the February issue of
the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) shows that a
national, branded mass media campaign can change smokers' thoughts about
quitting and help increase quit attempts. Researchers examined
awareness of the national quit smoking EX®campaign among smokers in eight U.S. media markets. Those who
were aware of the campaign showed a 24 percent greater chance of making a
quit attempt during the six-month study period. These results suggest
that quit rates could increase if federal and state governments provide
funding for evidence based cessation related mass media campaigns. Since
March 2008, more than 2 million people have visited www.BecomeAnEX.org and more than 350,000 people
have registered to form more than 350 support groups. EX
provides free resources on how to quit, rather than simply giving
reasons why to quit. By utilizing peer to peer motivation and
support, smokers in the EX program can help each other re-learn
life without cigarettes.
Read the full
press release with details from
the report.
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New Website
Inspires Youth Activism in Tobacco Control
Former Legacy Youth Activist and MTV Teen
Choice Award Winner Chad Bullock recently launched a website designed to
get young people involved in the fight against tobacco. The website, www.helloCHANGE.org, is designed to provide information to
young people who want to learn more about tobacco or who want to get
involved in the movement to create a smoke-free world. The site includes
FAQs about emerging tobacco products like hookahs and e-cigarettes,
provides cessation resources,
and lists grant opportunities, among other information.
Bullock's passion and diligence around
tobacco control began as a small child living in Durham, North Carolina, where he was raised
surrounded by tall tobacco warehouses, and seeing cigarette ads on a
daily basis. During his youth, he lost his great-grandfather from lung
cancer; his death prompted Bullock's passion to work in tobacco control.
In 2008, Bullock took home the "Do Something Award," at
the MTV Teen Choice Awards along with $100,000 - funds that he used to
start the site aimed at engaging youth.
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Scholarship
Funding Available for Students with Background in Arts and Tobacco
Control Activism
Applications are now being accepted for the annual Dr. Alma S.
Adams Scholarship for Outreach and Health Communications to Reduce
Tobacco Use among Priority Populations. The scholarship will award
$5,000 each for up to two candidates to pursue undergraduate or graduate
studies at an accredited institution of higher education in the United
States. The award will be granted on a competitive basis to a candidate
who shows financial need; exemplifies a record of commitment to
community service on behalf of an underserved community; and illustrates
the best use of the visual arts, media, or creative writing to convey
culturally appropriate health messages, specifically those aimed at
raising awareness of tobacco's harmful impact.
Applications will be accepted through April 30, 2011.
The scholarship was created in honor of Dr. Alma S. Adams, a
professor of art at Bennett College for Women in Greensboro, N.C., and a
member of the North Carolina House of Representatives since 1994.
Throughout her legislative career, Adams has spearheaded efforts to
support families, particularly children's programs. She served as a
founding member of Legacy's Board of Directors, where she diligently
pursued the concerns of underserved populations that are traditionally
heavily marketed by the tobacco industry. For additional information on
the Dr. Alma S. Adams Scholarship and to download an application, click here.
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Help Save
Lives by Supporting Legacy's Work
A legacy isn't something you leave when you
die. It is something you build every day that you live. Start your own
legacy by supporting our life-saving work to eliminate the number-one
cause of preventable death in the United States. There are many levels
at which one may contribute, and Legacy provides convenient options for
our supporters:
- To make a one-time or
recurring gift to Legacy, visit www.legacyforhealth.org and click on "Donate.
- Have an American Express
card? Select American Legacy Foundation as your charity of
choice and donate through the American Express Take Part Members
Project at http://www.takepart.com/membersproject
- truth® is on Facebook.
Donate to the campaign through Facebook Causes.
- Share a personal story
about the importance of building a tobacco-free legacy. Make a gift in
honor of someone in your life who has been impacted by tobacco at www.MyLegacyStory.org.
- Recommend a gift to support Legacy from your Donor
Advised Fund.
- Make a gift of appreciated stock
or securities. To do this, call Anthony O'Toole at 202-454-5557 for more
information.
- Include a bequest provision for
Legacy in your will.
- Shopping online? Select
American Legacy Foundation as your charityof choice on GoodSearch.com
/GoodShop.com. Donate with each of your online searches and through your
purchases.
We appreciate your support - it makes all
the difference in the work that we do to build longer, healthier lives.
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Black History Month - A Great Reason to
Quit Smoking
February marks Black History Month, honoring
the significant contributions African Americans have made to our
country and celebrating new achievements. Since the 1960s, the tobacco
industry has identified the African American community as a
strategically important market, one whose search for recognition and
empowerment made them a target for brands specifically marketed to help
build community identity. Once-secret tobacco industry documents suggest
that tobacco companies specifically targeted African Americans with
menthol cigarette advertising. Now, the numbers speak for themselves:
approximately 80 percent of current black smokers choose to smoke
menthol cigarettes. Research shows African Americans have lower
cessation rates compared to other smokers, and menthol smokers are less
likely than non-menthol smokers to successfully quit smoking.
Working with the African American community,
public health advocates can address this social justice issue and help
reverse smoking and disease trends by supporting a ban on menthol
cigarettes. Legacy is committed to serving this community with the
resources they need to live longer, healthier lives. Through informing
research initiatives related to menthol, advocating for a ban on menthol
cigarettes, increasing accessibility of proven-effective tobacco
prevention programs like truth®, and with our efforts to help smokers quit through the national
Become An EX campaign - Legacy continues to work toward reducing
tobacco related disease among African Americans.
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"Cigarette Wars" to
Premiere on CNBC on March 2nd
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An original CNBC documentary, "Cigarette Wars" goes inside America's
original cash crop -- tobacco. The one-hour special takes an in-depth
look at the companies that sell tobacco; the people who smoke it; the
elected officials who are trying to get rid of it; the federal law
enforcement agencies who are fighting it on the black market; and the
Kentucky farmers who grow it.
According
to promotional materials from CNBC, CNBC Correspondent Brian A.
Shactman will report on an industry that continues to thrive despite all
we know about the dangers of smoking. CNBC follows American tobacco
farmers as they endure one of the worst growing seasons in four decades,
facing record drought and increased pressure from the anti-tobacco
movement. Vilified and marginalized, these growers refuse to give up or
give in, trading their overalls for suits and traveling overseas to sell
American tobacco in emerging markets. Their efforts, and those of the
tobacco industry, to sell their product in places like China, India, and
Eastern Europe, have prompted accusations that they are exporting a
public health crisis.
"Cigarette Wars," will premiere on
Wednesday, March 2nd at 9pm ET. It will repeat that evening at 10pm ET,
12am ET, and 1am ET.
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