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Background Exposure to tobacco content in films is a cause of smoking uptake in young people. In an earlier study, we reported that tobacco content occurred in 70% of UK box office films popular between 1989 and 2008. We now report an analysis of tobacco content in a sample of the top grossing UK box office films between 2009 and 2017, and of popul...
Citations
... The study team entered data into the online platform WenJuanXing as members viewed each film. We coded and analyzed data using the 5-min interval method, a widely used variety of audiovisual media [19,20,26,29]. By dividing the running time of the film into 5-min intervals, this study coded the alcohol imagery in each interval. ...
... Furthermore, it is imperative to ban alcohol imagery related to minors in films [25]. We also recommend that China consider a film rating system of the sort used in the US and the UK [23,29]. Those systems classify films containing alcohol imagery a default "R" classification, meaning guests under the age of 17 must be accompanied by an adult. ...
... This may also lead to underestimation (if high-frequency appearances are concentrated in a short period) and overestimation (if short appearances transition into two intervals). However, this method is reliable and sensitive to relative changes in behavior levels and has been widely used in previous studies [19,20,26,29]. Finally, we only described the occurrence of alcohol imagery in popular films and did not conclude that alcohol imagery in films is related to public alcohol consumption. ...
This study aims to identify the level and trend of alcohol imagery in popular films in China from 2001 to 2020. We divided the running time of the annual 20 top-grossing films in China into 5-min intervals and coded those containing alcohol imagery, the presence of warnings, whether the imagery was related to minors and alcohol brands. Results showed that alcohol imagery occurred in 90.75% (363/400) of the films and 25.26% (2380/9423) of the intervals; these proportions remained stable over time. No film containing alcohol imagery had warnings, alcohol imagery related to minors appeared each year, and 103 alcohol brands were present in 185 intervals across 93 of the 400 films. Chinese films contained more alcohol imagery than international films. National policies are required to restrict alcohol imagery in films and to reduce the availability of such films for viewing by young people.
... Every film was coded and analysed using the 5-min interval method, which has been widely used in studies of a variety of audiovisual media. 17 18 23 We coded the tobacco imagery in each 5 min interval. Any time less than 5 min at the end of the film was not coded. ...
Background
Exposure to tobacco imagery in films can result in tobacco use among adolescents and young adults. Efforts have been made to limit tobacco imagery in films in China. Our study investigates the level and trend of tobacco imagery in popular films in China from 2001 to 2020.
Methods
The running time of the 20 top-grossing films in China annually from 2001 to 2020 was divided into 5 min intervals, and those containing tobacco imagery were coded for the following aspects: country of origin, presence of warning, presence of minors and the presence of tobacco brands.
Results
We 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.
Conclusion
Tobacco imagery remains in films in China. The relevant authorities and film producers should ban films with tobacco imagery in China; for example, they should ban films with tobacco imagery from participating in awards, add warnings to films with tobacco imagery and give films containing tobacco imagery a default ‘R’ classification.
... Mass media is a 'powerful vector' in the spread of the perceived attractiveness of smoking but can also play a critical role in the education of audiences regarding tobacco-related harms. 1 2 In spite of national and international restrictions or bans on the advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco products, exposure to tobacco products and smoking behaviours through popular media remains high. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] Youth populations (aged 13-18 years) in low/middle-income countries (LMICs) are especially at risk due to targeting by the tobacco industry to youth and female markets in these regions, [11][12][13] as well as the increased exposure to content afforded by developments in internetconnected personal technologies. 14 15 Smoking kills over 8 million people each year, globally. ...
Background
In line with the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC) Article 13, the advertising and promotion of tobacco products is increasingly restricted. However, popular media continues to pose an exposure risk to youth populations (aged 13–18 years), including in low/middle-income countries (LMICs). This study presents a novel method to record the prevalence of tobacco depictions in streamed media content and the characterisation of that content.
Objectives
Evaluate the frequency and characterisation of tobacco depictions in streamed content in LMICs.
Methods
Presence of tobacco depictions was evaluated in the four most in-demand series across 10 LMICs for the year 2019; this list included series that were released from 2017 onwards (2017–2019). Each character identified using tobacco was coded against 13 characterisation variables that recorded key demographic information as well as contextual information.
Results
The majority of series (72%, 13 of 18) analysed contained at least one depiction of tobacco use. 38% of tobacco depictions (359 of 941) occurred in content deemed suitable for audiences aged 15 years and up. 113 characters were depicted using tobacco across 38 episodes. ‘Star’ actors, featuring in opening credits with active profiles on the Internet Movie Database, accounted for 73% of tobacco-using characters (83 of 113). 5% of characters depicted using tobacco (6 of 113) were coded as minors (under 18 years).
Conclusion
The continued prevalence of positively characterised tobacco content in youth-focused streamed content that is in high demand in LMICs poses a risk as a driver of smoking uptake in youth populations. There is an urgent need to better enforce tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship legislation in LMICs, and to update WHO FCTC guidance in line with rapidly evolving media platforms and content that is available internationally.
... To estimate the UK population exposure to Guinness-related content, we estimated UK audience exposure using viewing data from Digital.I (Digital.I, 2018) and UK mid-year population estimates for 2018 (Office for National Statistics, 2019) combined with the numbers of alcohol appearances to estimate gross (the total number of impressions delivered to the UK population) and per capita (the number of impressions delivered to each person), as has been previously reported (Barker et al., 2018(Barker et al., , 2019(Barker et al., , 2020a(Barker et al., , 2020b(Barker et al., , 2020c(Barker et al., , 2020dMurray et al., 2018). The method involves combining viewership (obtained from viewing figures) with the number of appearances per game to calculate gross impressions as the estimated number of exposures delivered. ...
Aims:
To quantify Guinness-related branding in the 2019 Guinness Six Nations Championship.
Methods:
Content analysis of Guinness-related branding ('Guinness' and the alibi brand 'Greatness') was shown during active play throughout all 15 games of the 2019 Guinness Six Nations Championship. The duration of each appearance was timed to the nearest second to provide information on the amount of time that Guinness-related branding was shown on screen. Census data and viewing figures were used to estimate gross and per capita alcohol impressions.
Results:
Our coding identified a total of 3719 appearances of two logos of which 3415 (92%) were for 'Guinness' and 304 (8%) were for 'Greatness'. 'Guinness' imagery was present for 13,640 s (227.3 min or 3.8 h, 16% of total active play time), 'Greatness' was present for 944 s (15.7 min, 1% of total active play time), with a combined total of 14,584 s across all games (243 min or 4.05 h, 17% of active play time). The 15 games delivered an estimated 122.4 billion Guinness-related branded impressions to the UK population, including 758 million to children aged under 16.
Conclusions:
Alcohol marketing was highly prevalent during the 2019 Guinness Six Nations Championship and was a significant source of exposure to alcohol marketing and advertising for children, likely influencing youth alcohol experimentation and uptake.
Introduction
Exposure to tobacco imagery creates a positive impression about smoking and is associated with youth smoking uptake.
Methods
From the list of movies released during 2015-2019, we selected the top 10 movies per year rated by the Malaysian Film Development Corporation. Two researchers coded tobacco imagery in each movie considering five-minute time intervals as a unit. The five-minute interval coding was adopted from previous research for comparability. Frequencies and the average occurrence of tobacco imagery were compared by movie language, genre, and age categorization.
Results
In 50 movies analyzed, there were a total of 1037 five-minute intervals of which 26 (52%) movies and 277 (26.7%) of intervals tobacco imagery were present. Brand appearances were absent and health warnings about tobacco use were present in just one movie. The proportions intervals containing actual use, paraphernalia, and implied use were 63.5%, 22.0%, and 14.5%. Tobacco imagery of actual use, paraphernalia, and implied use was present in 25, 20, and 10 movies respectively. In those movies with tobacco imagery, the average number of occurrences of actual use, paraphernalia, and implied use was 3 (IQR 2-11.5), 2.5 (IQR 1.3-4.0), and 1 (IQR 1-4) respectively. movies classified as ‘p13’ (median 6, IQR 6-13) and ‘18’ (median 5, IQR 0-15) had higher average occurrences of tobacco imagery than ‘U’ movies (median 0, IQR 0-2) (p=0.028).
Conclusion
The lack of health warnings despite the presence of tobacco imagery in Malaysian movies calls for measures to regulate tobacco-related content and reclassify such movies as 'for adults-only'.
Implications
Tobacco imagery was prevalent in Malaysian movies that are allowed viewing by individuals aged 13 years and above. A review of the age categorization of Malaysian movies and the placement of health warnings in movies is needed. A comprehensive implementation of the ban on tobacco advertisements, promotion, and sponsorship should also include a ban on tobacco imagery in movies.
