Tobacco and Hollywood Campaign is part of an international movement committed to reducing the devastating impact that tobacco use in movies has on youth.
The problems with tobacco use in films:
Tobacco is the #1 cause of preventable death in the United States.
Between 1999-2008, tobacco was used in 63% of youth-rated (G, PG, PG-13) films. In 2010, 30% of youth-rated films still had tobacco use.
Although tobacco rates have declined, there still is no industry wide policy on rating tobacco use in films. Those major studios with individual published policies have significantly lower tobacco use than those studios who do not.
Smoking in movies is estimated to influence 44% all new teen smokers to start, giving the tobacco industry an estimated 180,000 new customers each year.
The Four Solutions
Rating movies that portray smoking “R.”
Requiring movies to be certified free of tobacco industry influence.
Strong anti-tobacco advertisements before movies with smoking.
Stopping the identification of tobacco brands.
Our Campaign
Our campaign provides youth, parents, health professionals, and community members with the tools and resources need to advocate for the four solutions. We currently support two main advocacy efforts:
Letter Writing Campaign: California advocates are writing to movie studio CEOs to encourage them to eliminate smoking from movies rated G, PG, and PG-13.
Endorsement Campaign: This campaign seeks to gain public support from civic, political, health, and school groups.