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Smoke signals
Washington Monthly, July-August, 2004 by Charles Peters
"Tobacco Makers Want Cigarettes Cut from Films." I couldn't believe this headline in The Wall Street Journal. The article reported that, "because state authorities in California have begun to inform tobacco companies that they are obliged to police the use of their brands in films," cigarette makers are now writing to movie studios asking that their products not appear on screen.
The trouble with the story is that the Journal reports it without its tongue planted firmly in its cheek. For years, the tobacco companies have plotted and conspired to get their cigarettes smoked by the stars, with the brand identified on screen if at all possible. A "product placement" industry grew up in Hollywood to cater to this need. Fees were paid that might strike the average person as bribes--all for the purpose of exploiting the example of glamorous movie stars to lure the impressionable into smoking and into using a specific brand. It defies belief that the tobacco industry could now fight to undo something it has fought so long for. I would bet my last dollar that these letters are pro forma and nothing more.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Washington Monthly Company
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group
