Over the course of this year's summer blockbuster movie season, Universal Studios has "won" the distinction - among movie studios - of having delivered the most tobacco impressions to youth audiences.
Studies have shown that as much as one half of all new smoking by teens can be attributed to smoking in movies - and that exposure to tobacco imagery in movies predicts established smoking behavior in adolescents.
Hollywood studios know about the research linking on-screen tobacco imagery with youth smoking rates, yet they continue to produce G, PG and PG-13 movies that promote smoking! That includes this summer's Land of the Lost, a Universal film that was heavily marketed to children. Numerous tobacco images in the PG-13 film have resulted in as many as 125 million impressions.
Tell Universal Studios to stop promoting tobacco to children. Our kids deserve better!
We took action on “Tobacco Imagery Doesn't Belong in Kids' Movies”:
# 10,244:
9:11 am PST, Nov 21,Tiffany Light, Pennsylvania
# 10,243:
5:20 am PST, Nov 21,Kimberly Wyke, Maine
# 10,242:
12:24 am PST, Nov 21,Antoinette Musmanno, New York
# 10,241:
11:10 pm PST, Nov 20,Pamela Davis, Illinois
# 10,240:
10:25 pm PST, Nov 20,Soo Thacker, Alaska
# 10,239:
10:04 pm PST, Nov 20,KM Gorman, Arizona
# 10,238:
6:44 pm PST, Nov 20,Name not displayed, Colorado
# 10,237:
6:43 pm PST, Nov 20,Karen Friend, Connecticut
# 10,236:
4:09 pm PST, Nov 20,Hannah Hh, Texas
# 10,235:
10:26 am PST, Nov 20,Patrizia Baschiera, Italy
# 10,234:
9:58 am PST, Nov 20,Dwi Novilia Suyono, Indonesia
# 10,233:
7:34 am PST, Nov 20,Stephen Weatherby, Georgia
# 10,231:
12:14 am PST, Nov 20,Vanessa Sandy, West Virginia
# 10,230:
8:27 pm PST, Nov 19,Carolyn Dakin, Australia
# 10,229:
7:53 pm PST, Nov 19,Stephen Hill, California
# 10,228:
7:29 pm PST, Nov 19,Brande Pickerel, Washington
# 10,227:
12:58 am PST, Nov 19,Chaz Shields, California
# 10,226:
3:25 pm PST, Nov 18,Karisa Cotter, Arkansas
# 10,225:
9:15 am PST, Nov 18,Jesse Dey, Canada
# 10,224:
8:23 am PST, Nov 18,Name not displayed, Illinois
# 10,223:
5:30 pm PST, Nov 17,Christine Dufour, Connecticut
# 10,222:
4:30 pm PST, Nov 17,Ellie Shain, California
# 10,221:
2:41 pm PST, Nov 17,Jennifer Krencs, Pennsylvania
# 10,220:
4:30 am PST, Nov 17,Sara Artbysara, United Kingdom
# 10,219:
6:36 pm PST, Nov 16,Francine Hasenbein, Alabama
Help our children
# 10,218:
11:52 am PST, Nov 16,MELISSA FERNS, Michigan
Dear Universal Studios,
I am writing you today to ask that you do your part to end the influence of Big Tobacco on America's youth.
You "won" the dubious distinction of delivering the most tobacco impressions to children during this summer's blockbuster season. Numerous tobacco images in the PG-13 film, Land of the Lost, have resulted in as many as 125 million impressions being delivered to youth audiences.
Youth, with the highest exposure to smoking in movies, are nearly three times more likely to start smoking themselves. And smoking in movies is the most powerful pro-tobacco influence on kids today, accounting for as much as one half of all youth who start smoking.
It's time for Universal Studios and your parent company, General Electric, to stop marketing smoking to children.
Likewise, it's time for the MPAA, which is comprised of all of the major studio heads, to make good on its promise to include tobacco imagery as a factor in its ratings. The MPAA should give an R rating to any film with smoking, and studios should avoid this by doing the right thing: stop the promotion of tobacco to children.
Thank you for your time and immediate action around this important matter.
CC: Dan Glickman, President, Motion Picture Association of America and Jeffrey Immelt, President, General Electric
Sincerely,
Melissa Ferns
# 10,217:
11:39 am PST, Nov 16,James Thompson, Finland
# 10,216:
10:54 am PST, Nov 16,Bryan Milne, Connecticut
# 10,215:
9:00 am PST, Nov 16,Midgee Whiteside, Pennsylvania
# 10,214:
9:32 pm PST, Nov 15,Robert Lyday, California
# 10,213:
7:18 pm PST, Nov 15,Thomas Golden, Virginia
# 10,212:
6:41 pm PST, Nov 15,David Depew, California
# 10,211:
5:48 pm PST, Nov 15,Angela Rola, New York
# 10,210:
5:34 pm PST, Nov 15,Jaime Cammarata, RD, Pennsylvania
# 10,209:
10:02 am PST, Nov 15,Marsha Reed, North Carolina
When I was growing up, all the famous movie stars smoked. So we were raisied to thinkthis was a good thing to do. Well, after beig raised in my mothers smoke my whole life and then my own smoke. I now have emphasema.
Please dont teach our children that this is good or ok. We need to teach them how deadly it really is,
thank you , Marsha Reed
# 10,208:
9:24 am PST, Nov 15,Bonnie Cline, Pennsylvania
# 10,207:
6:42 pm PST, Nov 14,Maryjo Alburger, New York
# 10,206:
3:19 pm PST, Nov 14,Michelle Myers, Colorado
# 10,205:
1:31 pm PST, Nov 14,Name not displayed, United Kingdom
