Restrct of tobacco advertising and promotion
Experience shows that whenever tobacco advertising and promotion is restricted in one medium, it migrates to another. Tobacco appearances in films accelerated in the United States while tobacco advertising in other media was being restricted, and in India a similar process occurred after tobacco advertising in other media was prohibited. Because smoking on screen is uniquely vivid and because young people see so many films so often, its promotional effect on smoking initiation is striking.
Any country seeking to ban or restrict tobacco advertising and promotion must address the issue of smoking on screen or risk having its public health efforts being severely compromised. The most vulnerable age group (adolescents) must not continue to be exposed to the most powerful promotional channel for smoking imagery available in today’s globalized economy.
A comprehensive approach to combating smoking imagery in film is therefore required. Fortunately, evidence-based and cost-effective policy options are available to reduce the impact of smoking in movies on youth smoking initiation. These have enormous potential for averting the growing burden of disease due to tobacco use, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. However, additional research is needed to assess the impacts of proposed policy changes on young people’s smoking behaviour and on the behaviour of the film industry.
