Teenage movies failing to kick the habit

FILMS aimed at children and young people continue to feature smoking, says a new study.

• Bridget Jones's Diary showed 12 brands. Picture: PA

The analysis of modern films found that movies rated PG show cigarette use, with smoking also prominent in features granted 12 or 12A certificates.

The researchers have called for an overhaul of the way film censors view smoking scenes in order to protect young people from being exposed to "frequent" tobacco imagery.

They also warned that "active product placement" may still be taking place, with British films more likely to feature specific tobacco brands than their US equivalents.

The analysis of the 15 most-popular films to screen in UK cinemas each year since 1989 was carried out by the UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies. It scrutinised 300 films, recording how often tobacco use and smoking paraphernalia, such as cigarette packs, lighters, ashtrays, or a particular brand, appeared.

While it found that the prevalence of tobacco imagery has fallen dramatically over the past two decades, there remained notable exceptions.

Tobacco, or tobacco by association, appeared in 70 per cent of the films reviewed, over half of which had been given a 15 classification by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). Brand appearances were nearly twice as likely to occur in films with UK involvement, it added. It singled out two successful home-grown productions, Bridget Jones's Diary and About a Boy, for stern criticism.

The former, starring Renee Zellweger, featured no fewer than 12 tobacco brands, while the latter saw Hugh Grant smoke Silk Cut regularly, despite the fact that in the book on which the film is based, his character smoked infrequently, with no specific brand mentioned.

Across the board, Silk Cut and Marlboro were the brands which made the most appearances in the films. In Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, the Marlboro brand appeared six times in a single scene.

Ailsa Lyons, a PhD student at the University of Nottingham who led the study, said the findings demonstrated the need for the BBFC to review its guidance on smoking in films in order to protect vulnerable youngsters.

She said: "Although smoking imagery and branding images in the most popular films have become substantially less common over the past 20 years, it is apparent that children and young people watching films in the UK are still exposed to frequent and, at times specifically branded, tobacco imagery, particularly in films originating from the UK.

"More consistent application of BBFC guidance could dramatically reduce this exposure and protect children and young people from damaging imagery, and encourage film makers to avoid tobacco imagery without compromising artistic freedoms or factual accuracy."

Professor John Britton, head of the university's epidemiology and public health division and the report's co-author, added: "It is well established that tobacco companies used films to promote tobacco products for many years, and adolescents who view tobacco use in film and who admire the lead actors whose characters smoke, were likely to view smoking favourably."

Sheila Duffy, chief executive of ASH Scotland, the charity that works to eliminate the harm caused by tobacco, said: "The report's authors state what other evidence has shown us, that smoking in films and on television can be a driver of youth and adult smoking. In light of this study, I hope the BBFC will reconsider their attitude on classification when incidences of smoking are prevalent."

The BBFC said the idea of imposing an 18 rating on films which feature smoking was "not going to happen," with the only exception being where a film actively promoted the habit.

The findings are published in the latest British Medical Journal's Thorax publication.

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