Categories
· International
· Teen Smoking/Youth
· Tobacco Control
· Movies
USA, by State
· California
|
Jump to full article: Los Angeles Times, 2008-07-11
Author: Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
Intro: Under fire for the prevalence of smoking in films, four Hollywood studios have agreed to include anti-smoking messages at the beginning of DVDs for future films rated G, PG or PG-13 in which there is tobacco use. The ads were produced by the state of California from tobacco tax funds.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has been known to chomp on a cigar or two in his blockbuster films, says it may be the best way of persuading kids not to emulate what they see on the screen.
"By agreeing to include our anti-smoking ads in the opening minutes of DVDs that contain tobacco use, we will reach millions of young movie viewers with a proven anti-smoking message at no expense to taxpayers," the governor said.
Schwarzenegger is scheduled to appear in Hollywood today at the Kodak Theatre to announce that Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Warner Bros. will include the anti-smoking announcements . . .
Not everyone likes the idea. Robert Best, California coordinator of the smokers' rights group Citizens Freedom Alliance Inc., doubts the ads will be more than a nuisance. "It's going to be skipped over and laughed at rather than doing any good," Best said.
Jump to full article » |