JUSTICE TO INVESTIGATE "HIDDEN CIGARETTE ADS" IN MOVIES [07/16]

The Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice has agreed to "thoroughly review" whether the recent dramatic increase in smoking in films "is caused in whole or in part by payments of money or other things of value by tobacco industry representatives to the movie industry to induce them to feature tobacco products."

The practice, known generally as "product placement," is illegal if the product is cigarettes, because it then makes the movie into a form of "advertisement" requiring a congressionally-mandated health warning.

To show that cigarette makers continue to engage in product placement despite an earlier public commitment to quit, a complaint filed by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) cites the very recent public offer by Philip Morris to stop engaging in the practice in return for protection for regulation by the FDA.

The complaint also cites several studies which show an alarming escalation in the number of movies not only featuring smoking scenes, but also showing specific brands þ a telltale sign of product placement.

These movies include many with a particular appeal to children, including SUPERMAN II, SUPERGIRL, BEVERLY HILLS COP, CROCODILE DUNDEE, BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED, and WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT?

According to the studies cited in the complaint:

* The heros in movies þ as contrasted with those who played villains or bit parts þ smoked three times as often as their counterparts in real life.

* The use of cigarettes on screen did not decline over the decades, even though the number of American smokers dwindled from 42.4% in 1964 to 25.5% in 1994.

* The number of young adults smoking on camera more than doubled from 21% in the 1960s to 45% in the 1980s, compared to only 26% in real life.

* Although only 19% of Americans of high socioeconomic status smoke, 57% of those playing roles of characters with high socioeconomic status smoke. Other recent movies cited in the complaint include:

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS,

WAITING TO EXHALE,

VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED,

BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY,

A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT,

and THE MASK.

ASH - ACTION ON SMOKING AND HEALTH 2013 H Street, NW / Washington, DC 20006 / (202) 659-4310