A Coalition of the Film Industry and Public Health Leaders: In Reply

Abstract

We welcome the opportunity to recognize those whose actions over the past decade helped to raise public awareness about the influence of smoking in movies on adolescents and to convince the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) to take this issue seriously.In 1998, the US Attorneys General resolved to deal with the problem of tobacco depictions in movies. In 2003, California Attorney General Lockyer contacted major tobacco companies and the MPAA to express concern about tobacco in movies. Prompted in part by our published research,1 Maryland Attorney General Curran and 27 other state attorneys general called on the MPAA and leaders in the motion picture industry to reduce smoking in movies. In response, Dr Dalton was invited to present our research findings to members of the MPAA, the Directors Guild, senior executives from the top movie production companies, and others from the motion picture industry. In 2004, Senator Ensign of Nevada held a Senate committee hearing on smoking in movies, which raised public awareness and sent a clear message to the MPAA that US legislators are concerned about the impact of smoking in movies on children.For years, public health advocates, including Stanton Glantz and members of SmokeFree Movies, have pressured the MPAA to assign “R” ratings to movies that portray smoking. Endorsement of this recommendation by the American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, and other major medical associations has helped to bring the issue to the forefront. The Legacy Foundation has supported antismoking efforts by funding research, promoting policies to reduce smoking in movies, and sponsoring antismoking public service announcements for use in theaters. State-level organizations such as Reality Check (New York) and Our Voices Exposed (Vermont) have inspired youth to become involved and communicate directly with members of the motion picture industry regarding their concern that movies are promoting smoking among youth.In response to a decade's worth of unrelenting efforts, the MPAA announced its collaboration with Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) experts to address the issue of tobacco depictions in movies. The HSPH statement advocating eliminating smoking from youth-rated movies, publicly released in April 2007,2 was remarkably consistent with our research-based conclusions that a “practical solution to reduce children's exposure to movie smoking would be to eliminate smoking from youth-rated movies.”3 We are pleased that our work in this area, which began more than 10 years ago, provides scientific support for those who embrace the mission of changing public health policy to reduce smoking.