Too many cigarettes in films and fiction

While bans are increasing and smoking is rare in homes, cigarettes are becoming more common in movies and on TV. Why?

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Smoking has taken over the cinema. Everyone says we need to quit, and bans are multiplying, yet in recent years, the number of film scenes featuring characters smoking cigarettes has increased by 70 percent. A record. And this despite the World Health Organization's clear call to minimize scenes in films and TV shows featuring actors smoking.
A battle that we at Don't Waste we hear a lot: the WHO has launched an alert regarding movie scenes featuring smoke and cigarettes. In Hollywood and beyond, scenes depicting people smoking would have become a way around tobacco advertising bans: this is what we read in a report by the World Health Organization.

According to the WHO report 44% of all films produced in Hollywood contain scenes with actors smoking. The percentages are growing in Europe: in Germany five of the six films produced in the country that entered the top ten most viewed featured cigarettes, in France 5 out of 7 and in Italy 4 out of 4. And there are several studies, experts say, that have linked the presence of scenes in which people are seen smoking in films to propensity to smoke among young people.

Experts propose a double solution: prohibit minors from viewing the films in question or a warning (“warning”) suthe model of those spread on cigarette packets to be distributed before the screening. “We raised this issue years ago,” he explained. Roberta Pacifici, who directs the ISS's observatory on smoking, alcohol and drugs – and one of our studies revealed that there was a 'smoking act' every seven minutes“We do, however, ask for sensitivity from those who write the screenplay and direct, because many of the smoke and mirrors are just filler.”

Among the institutions that are pushing hardest to ban unaccompanied minors from watching films with scenes showing lit cigarettes, there is the Centers for Disease Control American who conducted the study  on the increase in films featuring images of heavy smokers. A puzzle remains to be solved: is the boom in smoking at the movies a gesture of pure cynicism or a business deal with the tobacco lobby, which foots the bill for this absurd advertising? And again: are the numerous cigarettes in films and TV shows nothing more than covert advertising for smoking?

Aside from hidden propaganda, those in the film industry say there are several reasons why cigarettes appear so frequently on set:

  • Cinematic traditionFor decades, smoking was socially normal and widespread. Stars like Humphrey Bogart and Marlon Brando helped connect cigarettes with images of glamour, rebellion, and mystery.
  • Narrative shortcut: a cigarette quickly communicates something about the character:
    • stress or anxiety,
    • “tough” or transgressive attitude,
    • seduction,
    • meloncholy,
    • dependence or self-destruction.

    Within seconds the viewer “understands” the tone of the scene.

  • Visual aestheticsSmoke creates interesting visual effects with light and shadow. Directors and cinematographers use it to create atmosphere, especially in noir, thrillers, or historical dramas.
  • Historical or social realismIn series set in the 50s–90s, it would be strange not to see people smoking, because tobacco was much more widespread. For example, in Mad Men, smoking also serves to recreate the corporate culture of the era.
  • Influence of the tobacco industryEspecially in the 20th century, there were actual commercial deals between Hollywood and tobacco companies to show cigarettes on screen. Today, the rules are stricter, but the cultural legacy remains.

In the European Union, for example, the Audiovisual Services Directive prohibits product placement for tobacco products. Tobacco advertising is also very restrictive in Italy.

Many studies show that seeing celebrities smoking can increase the likelihood that adolescents and young people will associate smoking with success, attractiveness, or maturity. For this reason, various health organizations criticize the presence of tobacco in the media.

A systematic review entitledor Effect of Smoking Scenes in Films on Immediate Smoking: A Randomized Controlled Stud (main authors Sonya Dal Cin, James D. Sargent, Rick L. Gibbons), published in the journal  Tobacco Control Journal  He examined 100 young smokers (18–25 years old) and randomly divided them into two groups:

  • a group watched movie scenes with cigarettes,
  • the other watched the same scenes without smoke.

Immediately afterward, during a 10-minute break, the researchers observed who lit a cigarette.

Result: those who had seen the scenes with smoke were about 3 times more likely to smoke immediately afterwards.

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