Tobacco imagery in popular films in China from 2001 to 2020
Li X, Niu L, Kuang Y, et al. Tobacco imagery in popular films in China from 2001 to 2020: a declining trend. Tobacco Control. Published Online First: 10 November 2022. doi: 10.1136/tc-2022-057565
https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/early/2022/11/10/tc-2022-057565
Tobacco imagery in the 20 top-grossing films in China annually from 2001 to 2020 was assessed. “Authors coded 9423 five-minute intervals across 400 films. Tobacco imagery occurred in 1344 intervals across 239 films. There was a declining trend in the proportion of films (r=−0.515, p=0.022) and the proportion of intervals (r=−0.004, p<0.001) with tobacco imagery over time. None of the films with tobacco imagery contained a warning for their audience against smoking. Chinese films contained more tobacco imagery than international films, and tobacco imagery related to minors and tobacco brands were present despite regulations.”
Authors suggest that “authorities and film producers should ban films with tobacco imagery in China with restrictions that exclude films containing tobacco imagery receiving film awards, require warnings to audiences, and give films containing tobacco imagery a default ‘R’ classification.”
Comment: The placement of tobacco imagery in films continues to be used worldwide to promote tobacco products, and bans on such imagery are necessary to limit the glamorization of tobacco use as a standard, mature behavior.
Stephen Hamann
