Disney Ban On Smoking - Other Film Companies Urged To Follow Suit

Main Category: Smoking / Quit Smoking
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 03 Aug 2007 - 2:00 PDT

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ASH welcomed the news that Walt Disney has taken the decision to ban smoking in family-oriented films and that it is to discourage smoking in films distributed under its Touchstone and Miramax labels. It is very encouraging to note that Disney's Chief Executive Robert Iger recognises that images of smoking can increase the likelihood of children taking up smoking themselves. As Mr Iger notes, smoking is a unique problem, requiring a unique solution.

Amanda Sandford, Research Manager of the health campaigning charity ASH, said:

"This is the first domino to fall in the global campaign to get smoking out of films. However, while Disney have said they'll make smoking in their children's films 'non-existent', it remains to be seen how far the policy will be applied to other films made under the Disney stable. Enforcing the policy will be crucial as smoking in films has been on the increase in recent years and we know that the more smoking young people see on the screen the more likely they are to take up smoking themselves.

Nevertheless this is a very positive move and we urge other film companies to make a similar promise to remove smoking from new films. "

ASH also welcomes the fact that the Motion Picture Association of American, the US film ratings board has pledged to take smoking into account when classifying films. ASH will be renewing its call for the British Board of Film Classification to follow suit.

http://www.ash.org.uk/

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