Smoke Free Movies has launched a series of print advertisements in Variety and other publications. This advertisement first ran in Variety on February 19, 2008.

[One in a Series]

Eighty percent of this year’s nominated movies feature smoking. And the winner is…

…the global tobacco industry. It gains at least $4 billion in lifetime sales revenue, in the U.S. alone, from the new teen smokers recruited to smoke by films each year.

In 2007, two-thirds of new U.S. releases featured smoking: 39% of G/PG movies, 66% of PG-13 films, 84% of R-rated films. Together, these movies delivered 6.6 billion tobacco impressions to North American theater audiences.

R-rating smoking is reasonable, responsible—and inevitable. You’ll still be able to include smoking in any film, just like this year’s R-rated nominees for Best Picture. Yet by keeping smoking out of the G/PG/PG-13 films that kids see most, you’ll save 60,000 lives a year.

So who’s trying to stop the “R”? Must be somebody with a lot to lose.

Smoke Free Movies (logo) | www.smokefreemovies.ucsf.edu

Smoke Free Movie policies—the R-rating, certification of no payoffs, anti-tobacco spots, and an end to brand display—are endorsed by the World Health Organization, American Medical Association, AMA Alliance, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Heart Association, American Legacy Foundation, American Lung Association, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Society for Adolescent Medicine, Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, New York State PTA, and others.

To explore this critical health issue, visit our web site or write: Smoke Free Movies, UCSF School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA 94143-1390.