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2019
Smoking imagery study sparks change
| AAFP News (17 Jul 2019)
For the second year in a row, Netflix, the most commonly watched streaming service among those ages 15-24, topped the list — nearly tripling its number of tobacco incidents (866) compared with the previous year's report (299).
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Gears 5 will exclude smoking depictions after concerns raised by youth anti-tobacco org
News that “Gears 5” is stubbing out smoking comes after Netflix last week said it will cut out tobacco imagery in its originals rated for younger viewers, with the exception of maintaining “historical or factual accuracy.” That came after Truth released a report finding that tobacco use in TV series popular among those aged 15-24 had surged in the past year — and that Netflix original series “Stranger Things” and “Orange Is the New Black” among the worst offenders for showing smoking.
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Can Netflix changes decrease youth smoking initiaton?
Smoking imagery appears to be common place on streaming services, part of the artistic license that some associate with depictions of cool, aloof, stressed or compulsive personality traits. But the data regarding the impact of tobacco imagery in films and television on adolescent and young adult behavior speaks volumes. The bottom line—young people exposed to smoking and tobacco imagery via film and television are more likely to start using tobacco.
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Before Netflix, Hollywood studios banned most on-screen smoking years ago
Smoking may be “banned,” but it’s hardly gone. Here’s how each studio explains their own policy.
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Netflix promises to quit smoking on (most) original programming
Netflix said future shows aimed at its younger audiences will not depict smoking or e-cigarette use unless it is "essential." The streaming content giant also says information about smoking will be included as part of its ratings.
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Netflix promises fewer depictions of smoking after Stranger Things blowback
Of course, one could argue it is factually accurate to depict adults living in a small Indiana town in the early 1980s as smoking like chimneys, but then you remember there’s an interdimensional Demogorgon in this show and we’re not exactly talking about a historical biopic here.
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Netflix to cut smoking from youth-targeted content after criticism
Netflix said that going forward, all new shows it commissions with ratings of TV-14 or below (and all films rated PG-13 or below) will exclude smoking and e-cigarette use, except for “reasons of historical or factual accuracy.” The streamer also said new projects with higher ratings will not depict smoking or e-cigarette use “unless it’s essential to the creative vision of the artist or because it’s character-defining (historically or culturally important).”
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Dramatic Increase In smoking imagery In shows popular with young people
The report is released as millions of teens prepare to watch the season three premiere of "Stranger Things," which, for the second year in a row, is the worst offender. The show had a 44% increase in smoking from season one (182) to season two (262) and in its first two seasons, tobacco was depicted in every episode.
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Streaming shows have too many tobacco images, study finds
“I’m hopeful a second year of our report showing a situation that's getting worse, not better, will have influence,” Truth Initiative President and CEO Robin Koval says. Koval wants to see programmers, "particularly those in streaming media," enact strong anti-tobacco policies. One existing example is a policy at Disney's film division, which forbids smoking scenes in films rated G, PG or PG-13, except in the case of historical figures or if the activity emphasizes the negative consequences.
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Chinese films given Dirty Ashtray Award
Xu Guihua, a senior adviser to the association and former deputy director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that, as in the past, no director or producer came to claim their awards on Friday. But she believes such publicity will remind the film and television industry to take responsibility and reduce tobacco footage in their works...The average number of tobacco-related scenes for a film last year was 12.3, a decline of nearly 50 percent compared with 2007, she said.
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