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Movie Studio's No-Smoking Sign
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ShareJuly 25, 2007 11:57 AM
ABC News' Ed O'Keefe reports: The glamorous images of Hollywood actors smoking on the big screen may be coming to an end for one major movie studio.
The head of Disney, the parent company of ABC News, pledged to Congress Wednesday he would limit images of smoking in films from his studio -- the first in Hollywood to do so.
"We discourage depictions of cigarette smoking in Disney, Touchstone and Miramax films," reads a letter from Robert Iger, President and CEO of The Walt Disney Company to Rep. Ed. Markey, D-Mass., chair of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. "We expect that depictions of cigarette smoking in future Disney branded films will be non-existent."
Markey, who held a Congressional hearing about the influence of cigarette images in movies and television last month, applauded Disney's pledge Wednesday.
"Disney's decision to take a stand against smoking is groundbreaking and I commend CEO Bob Iger for this important commitment. Now it’s time for other media companies to similarly kick the habit and follow Disney’s lead," Markey said in a press release.
However anti-smoking advocates say Disney's promise may not actually result in less on-screen smoking images.
"It is not clear what 'discourages' means or how that 'discouragement' will be operationalized," said Stanton Glantz, an anti-tobacco researcher at UC San Francisco.
"Who will be responsible for doing the "discouraging" and what are the consequences if the producer/director of a given film ignores Disney? It would be much clearer and more enforceable and trackable if the policy is that they would not produce or distribute youth rated films with any smoking as a matter of policy," said Glantz.
Glantz also worried that 'Disney branded' films -- which are usually G and PG-rated films that generally do not include smoking -- represent a minority of the films that the Walt Disney Company produces and distributes.
July 25, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (5)
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It is a start in the right direction. It is about time that Disney take some moral responsibility.
Posted by: Tammy Stickers | Jul 25, 2007 1:06:39 PM
The entertainment industry has said for years they don't affect society, only reflect it. Does eliminating smoking "for the children" mean that Disney is also willing to eliminate profanity and sexual promiscuity from their moview? I doubt it.
Posted by: Noel | Jul 26, 2007 8:37:06 AM
Many people think Disney's move to take smoking out it's movies is a great thing and I guess it is. They have already stopped smoking ads in magazines; on billboards and NASCAR has even taken them off their race cars. This is all good--right? What ads are still going strong everywhere you look?ALCOHOL!! Yep. What was it they said about drunk driving? Over 43,000 people killed each year by drunk drivers. Of course this dose not count the peope who die of other diseases caused by alcohol and the broken families left behind. Sounds just a little one sided don't ya think!!
Posted by: Betty Melton | Jul 26, 2007 10:56:24 PM
With Canada, Great Britain and the USA condemning smoking and limiting/stopping smoking in public places, who are the political players? I have read about the health problems and the 2nd hand smoke vs HPV Lung virus but never is there a mention as to the political players who started this boycott of tobacco.
Posted by: Dennis | Jul 29, 2007 12:58:07 AM
its fine getting rid of smoking in films. But get rid of rape, murder and any form of violence. I believe this is censorship. Why are parents letting their children go?
Posted by: pam | Mar 25, 2008 1:37:52 PM
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