Giving movie gifts this holiday season? Consider smoke-free movie options
Waterloo Region, Ontario – The holiday season is a time for family gatherings and gift giving. Movies are a popular gift choice for young people, but it is regrettable that in Ontario a large number of movies rated for children and teens (G, PG, 14A) contain smoking and tobacco. Fortunately, there are still some popular tobacco-free movie options available this season. The smoking status of new movies released in theatres and on DVD/Blu-ray can be found at www.facebook.com/hookedbyhollywood.
“The popularity and success of some recent movie releases clearly show that movies do not need to contain smoking and tobacco to be successful,” said Jonathan Mall, Manager Tobacco & Cancer Prevention, Region of Waterloo Public Health. “Tobacco use in movies is one of the ways in which tobacco is promoted to children and teens and in nearly all cases its inclusion in movies is entirely unnecessary.”
It’s not just recent movie releases that contain smoking and tobacco. What parents may not be aware of is that many holiday classics also feature smoking and tobacco. When watching any movie containing tobacco, parents are encouraged to discuss the negative effects of smoking with their children.
“We need to educate our children and teens about the negative influence of tobacco and smoking in movies,” said Sandy Keller, Public Health Planner, Region of Waterloo Public Health. “The evidence clearly indicates that the more youth see smoking in movies the more likely they are to start smoking, even when there is no smoking at home.”
The issue of smoking in the movies is not limited to any one film. Some movies feature dozens of smoking scenes and tobacco imagery, while others only contain a few. The core of the issue is that children and teens will watch dozens if not hundreds of films throughout their adolescence and the research indicates it is the repeated exposure to on-screen smoking that counts.
In Ontario, movies containing smoking and tobacco are plentiful and easy for children and teens to access. According to the Ontario Coalition for Smoke-Free Movies, in 2011, 85 per cent of all top-grossing movies featuring tobacco in the province were rated for children and teen audiences (G, PG, 14A). This is a serious public health issue as tobacco remains the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the province, killing 36 people a day.
To help protect today’s youth from becoming a new generation of smokers, all future movies rated for children and teen audiences (G, PG, 14A) in Ontario need to be tobacco-free. At present, smoking and tobacco use have no impact on a movie’s rating in Ontario.
So enjoy the new holiday releases and classics this season – just be sure they’re smoke-free!
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Media contact: Sandy Keller, Public Health Planner, Region of Waterloo Public Health, 519-740-5793