Strong presence of smoking in TV series popular with young people

A new report from the American organization Truth Initiative " While You Were Streaming: Tobacco's Starring Role » shows that smoking scenes remain very present in TV series, films and music videos. 60 % of the 15 most popular TV series among 15-24 year olds contained depictions of smoking in 2021, results similar to 2020[1].

Studies show that tobacco use in movies can encourage young people to smoke[2].

Significant number of smoking occurrences in popular series in 2021

The total number of smoking occurrences in major streaming TV series popular with teens and YAs increased from the previous year (425 versus 390), with top offenders including Showtime's "Shameless," Fox's "The Simpsons," FX's "American Horror Story" and its spinoff "American Horror Stories," and Netflix's "Big Mouth" and "On My Block."

Shameless is the series with the most occurrences, with many more representations of tobacco than in other series. There are 217 representations of tobacco in its 11th and final season, more than double compared to the 2020 season. This number is higher than that counted for all the other shows combined.

Cartoons continue to feature images of tobacco, even those rated for youth and popular among those age groups. In addition to Simpsons And Big Mouth above-mentioned, Family Guy of Fox and Rick and Morty Adult Swim's channels repeated their inclusions even though they had been singled out in the previous year's tracking.

At the Netflix platform level, 157 depictions of tobacco were recorded in 2021, compared to 651 in 2020. Although Netflix has significantly reduced this number, the platform nevertheless continues to include frequent depictions of tobacco in its most popular shows among young people. This situation goes against the platform's commitment made in 2019 to eliminate tobacco from its programs intended for under-15s as of that date and to reduce them overall for other audiences.

The way in which series are consumed facilitates exposure to tobacco scenes

While the report focuses on popular series in 2021, the authors point out that the way these series are consumed, available continuously on multiple streaming platforms, exposes even more young people to scenes of tobacco. The authors found that young people binge-watched old seasons of almost all of the top 15 shows in 2021, as well as previous seasons of other popular shows that featured high levels of smoking, including Stranger Things, Family Guy, Criminal Minds, Bob's Burgers, Euphoria, 13 Reasons, La vie en rose, etc.

For Truth, the fact that many series enjoy great popularity for years after their initial broadcast further increases the level of exposure and reinforces young people's smoking habits for years to come.

Smoking scenes are also very present in cinema and music videos.

A University of Chicago analysis for Truth found that 47 of the top films in 2021 contained tobacco images, including 16 films rated not suitable for children under 13. That translates to approximately 25 million teens and young adults exposed to tobacco images. While it’s difficult to compare 2021 films to 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the authors note that the top films in 2021 contained a total of 2,381 tobacco images, more than double the number from the previous year. Of the 16 youth-oriented films that contained tobacco, several were nominated for major awards, including Best Picture, including King Richard, Minari And West Side Story.

More recently, Truth reported that nine of the ten films nominated for Best Picture at the 2023 Oscars and more than two-thirds (71.7 %) of all Oscar-nominated films this year contain tobacco imagery.^[3].

Such presence is also noted in videos associated with musical works. 12.8 % of music videos for songs in the top 2021 Billboard charts featured tobacco depictions and were viewed more than 2 billion times on YouTube. Although the absolute number of tobacco depictions and the percentage of clips featuring tobacco imagery are down from 2020, the scale and scope of the influence of these images are highly problematic. The consequences of this promotional exposure cannot be underestimated given the lack of parental controls or age restrictions on platforms like YouTube, as well as the lack of data on the age of individual viewers and the frequency with which videos are viewed and re-watched.

The need to act quickly to limit the presence of tobacco in series and films

Truth Initiative calls on the entertainment industry, states, and the public health community to adopt a comprehensive set of measures to reduce tobacco depictions on screens, including:

• Develop education and awareness to ensure that stakeholders, including directors, writers, producers and even parents, understand the importance of excluding tobacco from television series and films;
• Broadcast prevention spots on smoking before broadcasting content containing tobacco-related occurrences;
• Implement a robust classification system to ensure that series and films containing tobacco are listed as unsuitable for minors;
• Ensure that tobacco manufacturers and their representatives have not paid media companies in exchange for the use or broadcast of tobacco products in series and films;
• Ensure that productions receiving state or federal funding do not contain images of tobacco products.

©Tobacco Free Generation

AE

Keywords: Truth Initiative, TV Series, streaming, movies, cinema, tobacco, netflix

[1] Press release, New report shows tobacco imagery continues to influence youth vaping initiation through on-screen entertainment most popular among 15- to 24-year-olds, Truth Initiative, published March 9, 2023, accessed March 15, 2023

[2] Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults: a report of the Surgeon General Washington, DC: US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 2012.

[3] Truth Initiative, Tobacco imagery featured in more Oscar-nominated films this year, including 90% of Best Picture nominees, published March 10, 2023, accessed March 15, 2023