Tobacco Use Depictions in Popular Soviet and Post-Soviet Movies from 1950 to 2019: The Possible Impact of Restrictive Policies

Abstract

Background To reduce the initiation to smoking and its social acceptance, restrictive policies to decrease tobacco exposure in movies and television shows have been implemented in some countries around the world. What is not as clear is how effective these policies are in reducing tobacco exposure on screen. The objective of this study was to analyze trends in tobacco use in Soviet and post-Soviet films over time and also to assess the effectiveness of restrictive policies. Methods: 140 top commercially successful Soviet and Russian films released from 1950 to 2019 were content analyzed. The outcome data were transformed to approximate multivariate normality before being analyzed with one-way analyses of variance followed by Bonferroni multiple comparison post hoc tests. Results: Smoking rates in the top films fluctuated insignificantly in the 1950s–2000s. Yet, in the 2010s, the number of tobacco events in the movies declined significantly, compared to all other decades studied (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Changes in tobacco consumption in the Soviet Union and Russia did not have significant effects on tobacco use in domestic movies released from 1950 to 2009. The decrease in tobacco use rates found in Russian films in the 2010s can be explained by extensive public policies aiming to reduce tobacco exposure in newly released films.