Health Care & Prescription Drugs News

PIRG Urges Motion Picture Association To Give "R" Rating To Smoking Films

Washington, DC - Despite a 1998 multi-state tobacco settlement banning tobacco companies from marketing directed toward children and banning payments to place tobacco products in films, tobacco use in the most popular youth-oriented movies has increased by 50 percent, according to a U.S. PIRG report released today. U.S. PIRG called on the Motion Picture Association of America to rate all smoking movies "R."

"Tobacco at the Movies" highlights the health risks to children, who are susceptible to the subtle message sent by famous actors and actresses using tobacco on the big screen. "More smoking in movies means more children will puff away their health and their lives," said U.S. PIRG Consumer Associate Jen Thompson. "The Marlboro Man and Joe Camel have no place in our children's movies. It's time for Hollywood to stop giving them roles."

PIRG researchers examined the top grossing PG-13 movies from the two years before the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) (1996 and 1997) and the two years after (1999 and 2000). The average amount of time that tobacco products were in use or on screen increased from 53 seconds to 81 seconds. Some of the worst post-MSA offenders included Wild Wild West (4 minutes and 20 seconds), and The Perfect Storm (7 minutes and 6 seconds).

"This PIRG study is more evidence that despite Big Tobacco's 1989 "voluntary" ban on tobacco product placements and pay-offs in movies, Hollywood is still a powerful channel for promoting the lethal addiction that kills 5 million people worldwide each year-- smokers and non-smokers alike," said Professor Stan Glantz of the University of California Medical School. "Hollywood should immediately take four steps: certify in each movie that they aren't taking payoffs, run anti-tobacco ads before any smoking movies, eliminate brand identification, and rate all smoking movies 'R.'"

In 2001, Professor Glantz, the co-author of the books "Tobacco War" and "The Cigarette Papers," launched a Smokefree Movies campaign to get tobacco out of the movies. U.S. PIRG previewed the latest ad in Professor Glantz's campaign, which incorporates findings from the U.S. PIRG report and will run in Daily Variety tomorrow.

U.S. PIRG also released copies of a letter to Jack Valenti, President of the Motion Picture Association of America, urging the MPAA to take voluntary steps to give all tobacco movies an 'R' rating. In addition to calling for a voluntary "R" rating from the MPAA for all tobacco movies, U.S. PIRG urged state attorneys general to fully enforce the terms of the tobacco settlement and called for a full Congressional investigation of links between Hollywood and tobacco companies to determine if tobacco companies are still funding Hollywood in exchange for tobacco product placements, despite the terms of the settlement.

"Tobacco kills more than 435,000 Americans each year, including 50,000 non-smokers exposed to second-hand smoke. Tobacco illnesses cost Americans $75 billion each year. Hollywood should stop marketing to kids," concluded Thompson.