Smoking common in cartoons for kids and movies: survey

A recent survey on tobacco in movies and TV programs found that viewers are exposed to an average of nine smoking scenes per general audience-rated film, while children see an average of 4.2 smoking scenes in a one-hour TV cartoon.

The survey also found that television series produced in Japan had an average of 6.1 smoking scenes per episode -- the highest of all countries from which the nation imports TV programs.

BIG ON TOBACCO

The study also examined a variety of movies -- not limited by rating -- and identified several films in which more than 100 smoking scenes appeared, including Hors de Prix (巴黎拜金女), King Kong (金鋼), Dream Girls (夢幻女郎) and Blood Diamond (血鑽石).

The Detective Conan (名偵探柯南), One Piece (航海王), My Family (我們這一家) and Hunter x Hunter (獵人) were identified as cartoons with frequent smoking scenes.

Huang Song-lih (黃嵩立), secretary-general of the Taiwan International Medical Alliance (TIMA), said the prevalence of smoking scenes conveys the message that smoking is "no big deal."

"We ask the media to heed social responsibility and adhere to a strict code of self-discipline," he said.

"They should not accept sponsorship funds from tobacco manufacturers. On the contrary, they should expose the firms' strategies," said.

MONEY MOTIVES

Bureau of Health Promotion deputy director-general Chao Kun-yu (趙坤郁) said the plots of most movies and TV shows do not require the lead characters to smoke.

In all likelihood, Chao said, producers add smoking scenes to movies and television series in return for the financial sponsorship of tobacco companies.

Earlier this year, the association was entrusted by the bureau with the task of investigating the use of tobacco in TV and other media.

The survey began in May and ended last month.

The association examined 160 movies, 233 TV show episodes and print advertisements from 48 magazines with nationwide circulation.

BOX-OFFICE HITS

The association chose movies by selecting box-office hits and films rated at the top of DVD rental lists.

The survey examined both locally produced and imported TV series and cartoons.

Meanwhile, the association also monitored a variety of charity events sponsored by tobacco manufacturers.

The survey adopted the coding standards for films used by the American Lung Association, which assigns ratings to films based on the way a smoking scene is portrayed. From least severe to most severe, the association's ratings are "pink lung," "grey lung," "dark-grey lung" and "black lung."