The omnipresence of tobacco in French cinema

A few days before World No Tobacco Day on May 31, the League against cancer publishes the third edition of its survey conducted with the Ipsos institute on more than 150 French films made between 2014 and 2019. More than 90% of the films studied present at least one event linked to tobacco.

According to the survey, tobacco remains almost omnipresent in French films: between 2015 and 2019, 90.7% of the 150 most popular films studied include at least one event, object or speech related to tobacco. This could be people smoking, the presence of ashtrays, cigarettes, characters talking about tobacco[1]This figure is increasing: in the last study, dated 2017, the proportion was 70 %.

Tobacco in cinema encourages consumption, especially among young people

The strong relationship between exposure to tobacco in movies and smoking initiation among adolescents is well documented in scientific studies. Young people aged 10 to 14, who are often exposed to movies containing scenes of tobacco use, are 2.6 times more likely to start smoking than young people with little exposure.[2]Viewing smoking scenes in movies is associated with more positive attitudes toward smoking and the perception that most adults smoke and that this consumption has no health consequences.[3]. Product placements are remembered by people exposed to the scenes and subsequently influence their relationship with the brand and consumers' purchasing intentions. Placement behavioral is most effective when the cigarette is associated with a sensitive moment in the film, when the actor takes out his cigarette at a particularly critical moment in the film for example.

The tobacco industry has long understood the value and effectiveness of promoting its products through cinema. An internal document from the manufacturer Philip Morris dating from 1989 compared the effectiveness of promotional media and mentioned: "We believe that most of the strong and positive images surrounding cigarettes and smoking are created by film and television." The same document stressed: "It is reasonable to think that films and personalities have more influence on consumers than a simple poster of a cigarette pack."[4]

According to an Ipsos survey conducted in January 2021 among 1,500 young people aged 18 to 34, 58% of them believe that the presence of tobacco on screen can encourage smoking. Nearly three-quarters of former smokers respondents say that the presence of smoking scenes in films makes them want to smoke again and 60% of smokers also believe that these images encourage them to smoke.

Tobacco in films trivializes its consumption daily

According to the League's survey, tobacco is, on average, present for 2.6 minutes on screen per film (i.e. 2.5% of the length of a film), or, on average, the equivalent of 6 advertising spots per film. In addition, many scenes involving tobacco consumption take place in enclosed spaces, where in reality, smoking has been banned for over 10 years. This is particularly the case for films that are supposed to represent today's reality where the characters in the film are shown smoking in indoor locations such as offices, cafes, restaurants or nightclubs. Thus, 21.5% of smoking scenes take place in a workplace, in the office, 16.6% in a café, restaurant or nightclub.

All these scenes of smoking on screen normalize consumption and make smoking socially acceptable, even though it is the direct cause of 75,000 premature deaths in France. Analysis of the manufacturers' internal documents, made public by court order, has amply demonstrated their massive use of tobacco product placements in many films, as well as secret agreements made with actors paid to smoke certain brands at certain sensitive moments in the film.[5].

Today, The method has become more insidious, it is less about showing a brand than illustrating a behavior, with this idea that smoking is a banal behavior, even glamorous, sexy and liberating. Cinema through behavioral placements ensures real advertising[6]. This new study therefore raises the question of smoking films in which tobacco is omnipresent, without any connection with the smoking reality of the society concerned. This weight of tobacco has nothing to do with the objective and the creative freedom of the director but aims to maintain the smoking norm, or even to make it attractive.

Keywords: Cinema, tobacco, France, films, smoking © Photo credit: AFP

©Tobacco Free Generation

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[1] Cinema: There is far too much tobacco in French films, according to the League against cancer, Franceinfo, May 26, 2021, consulted on May 27, 2021 [2] Sargent JD, Beach ML Adachi-Mejia AM, Gibson JJ, Titus-Ernstoff LT, Carusi CP, Swain SD, Heatherton TF, Dalton MA (2005), Exposure to movie smoking: its relation to smoking initiation among US adolescents, Pediatrics, 116(5), 1183-91. [3] Sargent JD, Beach ML, Dalton MA, Mott LA, Tickle JJ, Ahrens MB, Heatherton TF. Effect of seeing tobacco use in films on trying smoking among adolescents: cross sectional study. BMJ. 2001 Dec 15;323(7326):1394-7. doi: 10.1136/bmj.323.7326.1394. PMID: 11744562; PMCID: PMC60983. [4] Philip Morris internal document Bates No.: 2501064282, Philip Morris cigarette marketing – a new perspective, Marketing Plan Report, 1989 [5] CNCT, Making star actors smoke in films: a lucrative and widespread practice, May 2010, consulted on May 27, 2021 [6] Jeanne Ferney, Cigarette in the cinema, "a long-standing love affair with the tobacco industry", La Croix, May 26, 2021, consulted on May 27, 2021 National Committee Against Smoking |