Review of Tobacco Use in Entertainment Finds Far Less Smoking on TV Than in Movies

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Review of Tobacco Use in Entertainment Finds Far Less Smoking on TV Than in Movies

Smoking on network television shows declined in the most recent research tracking the small screen's tobacco content, sharply contrasting with similar research for movies, where smoking remains a common and enduring prop even in releases aimed at younger audiences. The statistics on tobacco use on television and in movies were compiled by the Thumbs Up! Thumbs Down! project of the American Lung Association of Sacramento-Emigrant Trails.

As the most established research effort of its kind, the project has used its research during the past eight years to highlight how persistent tobacco use in entertainment productions influence young people to try smoking and ignore its deadly long-term consequences. "The results of our latest review of television entertainment are very encouraging," said Kori Titus, director of Thumbs Up! Thumbs Down! at the American Lung Association of Sacramento-Emigrant Trails.

"When it comes to tobacco use and young people, the stakes could not be higher, because studies have repeatedly shown that if people don't try smoking before 18, the chance of them picking up the habit as an adult is very low."

Another review earlier this year found that more PG-13 movies include scenes of tobacco use than R-rated movies. Issued by STARS, a sister project of Thumbs Up! Thumbs Down!, the review also revealed that the top-billed stars puffed in 41 percent of 145 top-10 movies, which is particularly devastating because many of those same stars are looked upon as role models by younger moviegoers.

However, the picture is brighter on network television, where the ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, WB and UPN networks were monitored.

There, teen-age reviewers sampling 271 prime-time drama and comedy episodes in March 2003 discovered that the average for incidents of tobacco use each hour dropped to 2.1, the lowest count in the six years the review has included television. In 1998, there were an average of four depictions of tobacco use on shows for each hour of prime time.

Other findings showed:

-- A drop in the percent of leading actors using tobacco, in comparison to supporting actors, from 69 percent in the year 2000 to 25 percent this year;

-- Cigar use dramatically declining from an average of 2 incidents an hour in 1998 -- where it matched cigarette use -- to an average of 0.3 incidents an hour in 2003. Cigarette use itself showed a slight decline, to 1.8 incidents an hour in 2003;

-- That 56 of the 271 episodes reviewed contained depictions of tobacco use -- the lowest percentage recorded in six years -- and 23 of them also used the depictions to convey an anti-smoking message;

-- Of the remaining 33 episodes with tobacco use, the top five pro-tobacco messages included rebellion, wealth or power, relaxation, cool and sexy. Cigarettes were responsible for 63 percent of the pro-tobacco messages, cigars 34 percent and pipes 4 percent;

-- Actors' tobacco of choice was cigarettes at 80 percent, cigars at 17 percent and pipes at 3 percent;

Meanwhile, the review also included 77 series, of which 30 contained tobacco use. "Becker" on CBS was the smokiest, but reviewers also noted that the show contains strong anti-tobacco messages because lead actor Ted Danson's character acknowledges smoking is bad for him, repeatedly tries -- and succeeds -- at quitting as other show characters constantly warn him about the dangers of smoking.

"These kinds of messages are far more realistic than illusions of smoking being connected to wealth, power or glamour. In everyday life, more and more people recognize tobacco use as dangerous to the smoker and nonsmoker alike," said Curtis Mekemson, a consultant with the American Lung Association of Sacramento-Emigrant Trails.

The other shows containing significant amounts of smoking were "The Simpsons" (Fox) at 15.7 incident an hour; "Boomtown" (NBC) at 10.5; "American Dreams" (NBC) at 6.8; and "Law and Order SVU" (NBC) at 6.4.

The review was conducted by trained teen-age volunteers working with the American Lung Association of Sacramento-Emigrant Trails.

Each episode was reviewed a minimum of two times with a third review performed when reviewers differ significantly over results. During the past six years, volunteer reviewers have watched 1,430 episodes and 1,040 hours of television.

Seventeen-year-old Kelsey Elliott of Sacramento is one of the Thumbs Up! Thumbs Down! reviewers, and for her, the motivation is personal.

Her grandfather suffers from emphysema as a result of years of cigarette smoking. "It really means something to me to be involved," Elliott said, about her volunteer work. "I feel like I'm making a difference."

For her and other volunteers, it's a difference worth making in rolling back decades of damage done through the glamorization of smoking in entertainment media.

At least in movies, the impact of tobacco use portrayals on young people has been documented. This includes research conducted at Dartmouth College that found that tobacco use portrayed movies tripled the odds that a young audience member would try smoking.

What's more, when non-smoking youth saw their favorite stars frequently smoke on screen -- which happened in 55 percent of the top-10 movies over the last year -- they are 16 times more likely to have positive attitudes toward smoking in the future.

"While those findings focused on movies alone, we believe they can serve as an indication of how tobacco use in all forms of entertainment media -- television shows, music videos and even computer games -- can act as implicit endorsements of smoking. So to see tobacco use on one of these mediums, television shows, in decline is really encouraging to us," Titus said.

"If decision makers throughout the entertainment industry showed a little more restraint on including tobacco use in their productions, they can make a huge difference down the road -- in fact, considering how many people die from smoking related diseases, action on their end can make the biggest difference of all."

Thumbs Up! Thumbs Down! and STARS are made possible through funding from the California Department of Health Services, Tobacco Control Section. The American Lung Association and affiliates such as Sacramento-Emigrant Trails have been fighting lung disease for nearly 100 years. For more information, visit http://www.saclung.org.

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