With much of the bandwidth consumed by impeachment, it may be instead worth discussing an issue that hits much closer to home, with ramifications for public health.

Have you noticed what seems to be a big increase in cigarette smoking in streaming entertainment (or even in theatrical movies, if you frequent those venues)? It sure seems that way.

As this blog previously noted in a review of the TV series Disappearance, “the characters smoke so many cigarettes on screen that it’s a wonder that they didn’t come down with COPD.” 

It’s not just the villains in these scripted dramas; the sympathetic characters often use tobacco as the plots unfold. Lucky for them, actors and actresses actually ingest herbal cigarettes rather than the real thing when they’re performing in TV shows and movies.

CDC Smoking in the Movies Statistics

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides some mixed data:

From 2002 to 2018:

Almost half (45%) of top-grossing movies in the United States were rated PG-13.

6 of every 10 PG-13 movies (56%) showed smoking or other tobacco use.

The percentage of youth-rated movies (G, PG, PG-13) that were smokefree increased from 35% to 69%; however, in youth-rated movies that showed any smoking, the average number of tobacco incidents per movie reached historically high levels in 2018…

An R rating for movies with tobacco use can potentially reduce the number of teen smokers by 18% 2,3, preventing up to 1 million premature smoking deaths among youth alive today.

Product placement (usually overt — like a character using a laptop with the big Apple logo visible) continues to provide a significant revenue stream for entertainment industry, which, in turn, is a way for a company to expand its market share. “Brands work with movie production houses to include their products or mentions of their products in films as a means to subtly advertise,” Business.com noted.

Is Smoking Cool?

Smoking is a disgusting habit and, it is publicly frowned upon, given the enormous cancer risk, plus the stench. With that said, the following may be an off-the-wall conspiracy theory. But is it too crazy to wonder if Big Tobacco has set up shell corporations to quietly funnel cash into the global movie industry for product placement and thereby influence a new generation to get hooked on nicotine?

Other than a form of subliminal programming perhaps targeted at a younger demographic, what does smoking add to character development, anyway?

Hollywood Values

We know that “environmentally conscious” liberal Hollywood (using the term Hollywood generically) is morally and ethically destitute. This is a fundamentally hypocritical industry that collectively expressed outrage over Donald Trump’s Access Hollywood tape, but — among other shortcomings — harbors and covers up for predators. And in some cases individuals voluntarily pimp themselves out (allegedly).

Content producers also cave in to censorship imposed by communist China’s dictatorial regime (as it did for Germany in the pre-war era).

Is it a stretch to think that studios and production companies would turn down cigarette cash?

If you are going to the movies over Christmas holidays, or if you’re just on the couch watching Netflix or Amazon Prime content, take note, if you can, of how many actors and actresses are smoking onscreen.

Does this theory hold up or not?

[Featured image credit: Ralf Kunze/Pixabay]