Reasons and Damages of “Smoking in Movies”

Reasons and Damages of “Smoking in Movies”

Saturday, 7 October 2017

Reasons and Damages of “Smoking in Movies”

“Smoking is injurious to health” or “Smoking kills”, these are some of the precautionary messages usually appeared in almost all type of electronic and print media. In contrast, we are well aware of well-known celebrity endorsement of smoking products in television news papers, ratio and billboard advertisements. Things didn’t limit here, tobacco companies started product placement in the content of movies through different stars and celebrities to avoid loss due to customer shift from advertisement channel.

In this article we are going to enlist and discuss the reasons and damages of “smoking in movies”:

5-periods of commercial benefits & damages:

It is primary interest of tobacco companies to promote smoking products through film stars to increase their sales and profits. Since 1920 to 2005, United States smoking industry has four periods of getting served by Hollywood stars:

Starting from 1920

1.   First 30 years: Most of Hollywood stars were on payroll of US tobacco companies. Advertisement media was newspapers, radio and magazines. Spencer Tracy received $150,000 (of today’s worth) to endorse “Lucky Strike” cigarettes.

2.     Next 20 years: Movies mostly replaced by television and public got relatively high health awareness, companies sponsored their own programs to overcome the sale fall. For example American Medical Association files a case to delinked smoking and movies.

3.   Next 28 years: US undo the legal status of tobacco advertisement in 1971. To survive, companies adopt product placement strategies and get back to Hollywood. Superman 2 was rich promoter of Marlboro.

4.     Next 7 years: In 1998, product placement banned in US but only in the content which is accessible to children. This was the time when smoking on large screen boost up high.

5.    After 2005: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation reaches on peak of its Innovators in Substance Abuse Prevention program which aim to eliminate the importance of film industry to tobacco companies. Its research gives evidence that one million children will die due to tobacco usage, which are alive today all due to smoking exposure in movies. More detailed bifurcation of cause of these death is as follows.

Due to:

                                                              i.      Cancer are                            385,000

                                                            ii.      Heart disease and stroke       375,000

                                                          iii.      Respiratory diseases             265,000

“Smoking in Movies” Bollywood at its peak

1.       Important figures:

a.       Film produced                                   1000 Films

b.      With smoking   

                                                               i.      Youth rated                       34%

                                                             ii.      R-rated                              72%

c.       Tobacco incidents (per film)

                                                               i.      Youth rated                        10

                                                             ii.      R-rated                               34

d.      Tobacco impressions

                                                               i.      Youth rated                        31.29 Million

                                                             ii.      R rated                               45.60 Million

e.      Cinema ticket sold                                    3.1 Billion

f.        Revenue                                                   10 Billion Dollars

g.       Social impact/viewers                             15 Million people per day

h.      Tobacco users                                           250 Million

i.         Tobacco promoted movies                      76 %

j.        Cigarettes promoted movies                    72 %

As a result only cigarettes make 20% of all tobacco industry in India. Cigarettes portrayed as a sign of power and authority. For example movies

1.       Sholey

2.       Bazigar

3.       Darr

4.       Ghulam

5.       Devdas

These films used extensive product placement through super stars like Amitabh Bachan & shahrukh khan at their times.