Restricting Role of
TV and Films as Vehicle of Promoting Tobacco
Television and Films are the most popular medium of entertainment and
information dissemination. In both, rural and urban India the impact created by cinema
and television programmes on public mind is massive and ineffaceable in many
respects. Fashions and life-styles shown in films become popular overnight.
Exposure to smoking in movies promotes tobacco as normal and associates it with
style and glamour.
A qualitative analysis of TV and Film contents shows that movies are an
obsession. India
produces more than 900 films a year in different languages watched by over 188
million viewers every year. Satellite television has increased the outreach to
a much larger audience. There are dozens of movie channels that telecast movies
round the clock. The entertainment
channels also show movies and reach 60-70% of the cable and satellite audience.
Films and film-based programmes account for 25% to 30% of programming content
and are the key viewership drivers for all general entertainment channels.
It is pointed out by many scientific studies that the electronic images
depicting smoking and tobacco use promotes the harmful and deleterious habit of
smoking among youngsters, who happen to be the most vulnerable segment of the
society. The role of motion pictures in promoting tobacco has been clearly
reflected in many studies. Since in India and other such underdeveloped
countries the literacy rate is too low so for most of these people, what is
seen is often believed and followed. Hence, mass media and movies are an unfortunate
but very powerful tool in the hands of tobacco companies.
The instances of females consuming tobacco in movies has also increased
in India pointing towards a specific market expansion strategy by tobacco
companies using movies as a vehicle. Studies suggest that the tobacco companies
specifically position their products to attract female smokers from all
segments, strata and age groups of society. The tobacco companies’
communications targeting females is carefully designed for younger women stressing
on female camaraderie, self confidence, freedom, and independence; cigarette
brands for older women are tailored to address the needs for pleasure,
relaxation, social acceptability, and escape from daily stresses. In many
movies, the female leads are shown smoking in style, which is seen emulating by
many young girls. Beauty, success, emotional and physical toughness,
independence and rebelliousness have often been associated with female smoking.
In many instances even the cigarette brand has been deliberately shown at the
subliminal level.
A survey depicts that seventy nine of the hundred and ten movies
analyzed, presented smoking or tobacco with glamour and style. A sizeable
number of movies related tobacco with stressful situation and thereby
projecting tobacco as a panacea to all kinds of stress and tension. The false
association of tobacco as a stress reliever has been created in sixty one of
the hundred and ten movies analyzed. The association of tobacco with stress is
factually and scientifically incorrect. There are no medical studies to even
point that tobacco reduces stress. The
association of tobacco with stress only promotes the tobacco industry marketing
theme that smoking/tobacco reduces stress. It’s a scientific fact that tobacco
is the major cause of hypertension and increased the chances of an infraction
many folds.
False association of tobacco and smoking with glamour, bravery, success,
stress etc. needs to put to an end immediately if the tobacco control efforts
have to succeed and if millions of lives are to be saved.
The promotion of harmful substances like tobacco through mass media is
undeniably against the established research of science’ against the direction
provided by the Indian constitution and has the regrettable ability to degenerate
the young people and hence the future of India and any civilization of the
world.
In conclusion, the role of TV and movies as vehicles for promoting
tobacco use has become even more important to be checked as other forms of
tobacco promotion are constrained. This investment is part of a wider and more
complex marketing strategy to support pro-tobacco social norms, including
product placement in mass media, sponsorship and other modalities. Not only the
tobacco traders but many of the film producers, directors and actors have also
opposed ban on screening tobacco in films.
New Notification for Movies, TV
Programmes Displaying Tobacco Products
With effect from 14.11.2011
In 2003, WHO conducted a study on
the portrayal of tobacco in Indian cinema and its impact on youth audience before
implementation of the Cigarettes and
other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and
Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, (COTPA) in 2003. Further in 2004 (post COTPA ), a second study
titled on “Tobacco In Movies and Impact
on Youth” documented changes in Bollywood’s tobacco imagery. This
research found the following:
|
Key Findings
|
WHO study (2003)
|
Study by Burning Brain
Society supported by WHO/MoH (2005)
|
|
Total tobacco
containing movies
|
76%
|
89%
|
|
Lead character
smoking
|
40.9%
|
75.5%
|
|
Tobacco
brands/product placement and visibility
|
15.7%
|
41.0%
|
The Government had enacted the COTPA with the objective to protect the
present and future generation from the adverse effects of tobacco usage and
second hand smoke, through imposing progressive restriction.
As per Section - 5 of the Act,
all forms of advertisement (direct, indirect/surrogate) promotion and
sponsorship of tobacco products is prohibited. However, it was observed that
when the advertising, promotion and sponsorship ban went into force, tobacco
companies developed new marketing strategies to circumvent the law through
depiction of tobacco use scenes and brand placement of tobacco products in
movies.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has notified the rules
for Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and
Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) [second
amendment rules] 2011. The rules were notified after consultation and taking
into account the views of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to make it
more practical and implementable.
As per the Rules, all the old movies and TV programmes i.e. produced
before the 14th November, 2011 displaying tobacco products or its use would
have to mandatorily display:-
a. Anti-tobacco health spots or
messages of minimum thirty seconds duration each at the beginning and middle of
the film or the television programme.
b. Anti-tobacco
health warning as a prominent scroll at the bottom of the screen during the
period of such display.
And such
programmes will be telecasted at such timings that are likely to have least
viewership of minors.
For new films
and TV programmes a strong editorial justification for display of tobacco
products or their use shall be given to Central Board of Film Certification
(CBFC) along with UA certification, and it will be accompanied by the following:
a. A disclaimer, of minimum twenty seconds duration, by the concerned actor
regarding the ill- effects of the use of such products, in the beginning and
middle of the film or television programme;
b. Anti-tobacco
health spots or messages, of minimum thirty-second duration each at the
beginning and interval of the film or the television programme;
c. Anti-tobacco health warning as a
prominent scroll at the bottom of the screen during the period of such display;
There will be a
representative of MoHFW in the CBFC.
In order to restrict blatant display of tobacco brands in old films and TV programmes these
rules make it mandatory to crop
/mask display of brands of cigarettes or any other tobacco product or any forms
of product placement, close-ups and for new films and TV programmes such scenes should be edited/blurred by the
producer prior to screening. The ban is on display of tobacco product or its
usage also.
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