Some very good news!
Six of the major Hollywood studios will begin including antismoking public service announcements in youth-rated DVDs of films that feature tobacco use.
The studios will feature anti-smoking PSAs produced by the state of California.
On Friday, California Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger announced the pact at a press conference alongside entertainment industry leaders, some who’ve long targeted the glamorization of smoking in films.
“It is historic, the fact that all the studios want to make sure there is appropriate messaging where smoking is depicted,” said one of the industry leaders, “It really helps diminish the role of the cigarette in film.”
The agreements with the studios run through 2009, and the Entertainment Industry Foundation is paying associated talent costs for 21 months for the use of the ads.
The first spot, “Icons,” will appear on the DVD release of 21.
The ad contrasts the tobacco industry’s images of a cowboy, hip-hop DJ and twenties-era flapper to that of a dying male smoker in a wheelchair.
Will Katherine Heigl or Shia LeBeouf appear in one of the PSAs?
[Image via JFX.]