10 Role of Entertainment Media in Promoting or Discouraging Tobacco Use Popular entertainment media are a powerful force in the lives of Americans. In particular, young Americans have been shown to spend an average of more than five hours per day exposed to a variety of media channels. This chapter examines the role of entertainment media in encouraging or discouraging tobacco use, including aspects such as n Channels of media exposure, particularly for children n Studies performed on tobacco use in the movie industry, ranging from trends in tobacco prevalence by movie type to issues such as how tobacco use is depicted, not portraying the health consequences of smoking, and brand-specific exposure n Studies examining the influence of smoking in the movies on the social attitudes and behaviors surrounding smoking n A summary of research on the portrayal of tobacco use in other media channels, such as television, music, magazines, and the Internet n Current and future strategies for reducing public exposure to tobacco use in entertainment media, including policy interventions, efforts at industry self-regulation, and advocacy efforts aimed at both the public and the entertainment industry The total weight of evidence from cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental studies indicates a causal relationship between exposure to movie smoking depictions and youth smoking initiation. Further research to better understand this relationship and to evaluate strategies to reduce youth exposure to tobacco portrayals in entertainment media is warranted. 357 1 0 . R o l e o f E n t e r t a i n m e n t M e d i a It’s the movies that have really been running impact of entertainment media on behavior things in America ever since they were focuses on these media. The next sections of invented. They show you what to do, how this chapter describe what is known about to do it, when to do it, how to feel about it, the smoking images contained in movies and how to look how you feel about it. and how viewing them affects attitudes and behavior. The text begins with the historical —Andy Warhol (1928–87) relationship between the tobacco and movie industries, both of which came of age during the early 1900s in the United States. Introduction The chapter also summarizes research on portrayal of tobacco in other forms of This chapter examines and summarizes entertainment media including television, what is known about the use of tobacco music, magazines, and the Internet. Finally, in entertainment media and its effect on efforts to reduce audience exposure to tobacco use in the population. A detailed tobacco-related media content are discussed, look at the influence of one of America’s and overall chapter conclusions are drawn. oldest entertainment media—the movies— is followed by a discussion of how today’s What Are Entertainment Media? overall media environment can influence tobacco use and steps that can be taken Entertainment media include print media to reduce public exposure to tobacco use (books and magazines), audio media in the media. Given the continued rapid (radio and music), and audiovisual media growth in media access, particularly among (television, movies, Web-based media, and young people, reducing tobacco use in the video/computer games). Just two decades media could serve as an important factor in ago, options for media delivery in the changing social attitudes toward smoking. home increased with the introduction of the videocassette. Today, the options also It has long been believed that the include digital media (digital versatile discs entertainment industry has a profound [DVDs], compact discs [CDs], video games) impact on behavior, especially when it and access to entertainment programming comes to what is perceived as fashionable. through cable/satellite and the World The entertainment industry produces Wide Web. The Web provides unique stars who introduce large segments of the entertainment options through Web sites population to new products and behaviors that deliver everything from traditional depicted in mass media. To the extent venues, such as news, to options for playing that viewers form personal connections interactive video games with multiple with these stars through their use of the players and downloading podcasts of movies media, the viewers’ own behavior may be and television shows. The increase in home influenced. The entertainment industry options for media and the multiplication also serves to maintain behaviors already of media viewing sites within the home established in the population. (60% of U.S. households contain three or more television sets) have transformed This chapter begins with a look at the home media viewing from a family event media environment and its evolution as a to a much more individualized and tailored backdrop for examining media channels that pattern of media viewing among family could potentially model smoking behavior. members. For example, parents who grew Perhaps because television and movies up before video games or Music Television are so prominent in people’s leisure time (MTV) may know little about the specific entertainment, most of the research on the content of the video games their children 358 M o n o g r a p h 1 9 . T h e R o l e o f t h e M e d i a play or the music videos and other video have a television in their bedrooms (65% of podcasts their adolescents watch because the children and adolescents older than age 7). parents generally do not play or watch them. Most adolescents also have a radio and a CD player in their bedrooms.1(p.13) About one-half Surveys of media availability in U.S. of families report that the television is almost households reveal broad access to each of always on, and 58% watch television during the home media channels, with electronic mealtimes.1(p.15) Average media exposure media gaining market share over traditional among children is 5.3 person-hours per day media venues. Two studies that surveyed (3.3 hours for 2–7 year olds and 6.4 hours for representative samples of U.S. families 8–18 year olds). Average media exposure is with children found similar results. about one hour less for high-income families Roberts and colleagues1 surveyed more than for low-income families.1(p.19) than 3,000 families in 1999. Woodard and Gridina,2 surveyed some 1,200 families one One study noted that children and year later. The proportions of families with adolescents distribute their time in using two or more media delivery devices were entertainment media in the following 88% for televisions, 58% for videocassette proportions: television, 46%; CDs and tapes, recorders, 85% for radios, 71% for tape 12%; movies and videos, 11%; print media, players, 59% for CD players, 38% for video 11%; radio, 10%; video games, 5%; and game players, and 21% for computers. computer, 5%.1(p.20) In addition, most families reported having access to a wide variety of television channels, As children age, one-half of the additional with about three-quarters of American time spent with media is due to an increase families having cable/satellite television.1(p.9) in television viewing; the remainder is due The only media services strongly related to increases in time spent watching taped to socioeconomic status were computer television shows, taking trips to the movie ownership and Internet access. All other theater, listening to the radio and music, products were equally distributed across and, for boys, playing video games.1(p.20–21) socioeconomic groups. For example, the Note that television viewing comprises both median number of televisions in households the viewing of television programming was 2.8 for families with incomes under (traditional programming and movies from $25,000, 3.0 for those with incomes between movie channels) plus nontraditional venues $25,000 and $40,000, and 3.0 for families such as MTV. Thus, the viewing of television with incomes above $40,000. The percentages programming and movies takes up more with cable/satellite television access for these than one-half of the five to six hours that income groups were 71%, 73%, and 77%, children use media each day. respectively. However, the percentages with Internet access were 23%, 42%, and 58%, All of these media have the potential to respectively.1(p.11) influence the attitudes and behavior of young consumers toward tobacco products. Media Use A large body of research exists on the impact of tobacco use in movies on attitudes toward The national surveys cited above also assessed smoking. This medium therefore serves media use by children and adolescents. as a valuable exemplar for further study in These young Americans are considered most how various mass media might influence vulnerable to the effects of media messages, the potential for tobacco use. Thus, movies and much of the research discussed here are the primary focus of this chapter. Later addresses the effects of media on their use sections examine research findings regarding of tobacco. About one-half of U.S. children exposure to tobacco in other media. Together 359 1 0 . R o l e o f E n t e r t a i n m e n t M e d i a with the existing body of knowledge surrounding the portrayal of tobacco use in movies, this chapter forms a base for future work on the impact of entertainment media on tobacco-related health issues. Historical Perspective: Movies Examination of the role of entertainment media in tobacco marketing is increasingly becoming an area of active research. Most of this work has focused on portrayal of tobacco in movies. Quantitative studies suggest that youth exposed to on-screen smoking are Early Lucky Strike advertisement more likely themselves to initiate smoking.3–9 targeted at women These reports should prompt more careful examination of the historical role that the to a woman who asks him to “blow some entertainment industry may have played my way.” The company also recognized the in the marketing of tobacco.