WHEREAS, scientific evidence indicates that the more exposure to on-screen smoking adolescents receive in films (whether viewed in theaters, broadcast, or digital media) the more likely they are to start smoking.

• A study by Dartmouth Medical School researchers (The Lancet, 2003) followed more than 2,500 adolescents for two years. Controlling for all other factors, the study found that those teens who saw the most smoking in movies over that period were three times more likely to start smoking than those who saw the least. An accompanying “Commentary” estimated that on-screen smoking now recruits 390,000 new teen smokers each year, of whom 100,000 will ultimately die from tobacco-related disease.
• Researchers have also observed that age-classification ratings play an important role in minors’ exposures and consequent smoking. A study in Pediatrics (July 6, 2004) found that after controlling for all other factors including parenting style, 14% of the teens free to watch tobacco-intensive R-rated movies took up smoking, compared to 3% of the teens whose parents barred them from viewing any R-rated fare.
• However, a decade of “ratings creep” has been reported by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (July 13, 2004), who found that content once concentrated in R-rated films, including smoking, is increasingly found in films rated PG and PG-13. The University of California-San Francisco (UCSF, March 2004) also documented an 80% increase in the share of estimated tobacco impressions delivered to theater audiences by youth-rated as opposed to R-rated movies between 1999 and 2003. This survey also concluded that moviegoers 6-17 now receive more than half of their exposure to smoking scenes from movies rated G, PG and PG-13. The study also surveyed the Company’s live action films 1999-2003 and found that 56% of its PG-rated movies, 68% of its PG-13 movies, and 83% of its R-rated movies included smoking.
• A co-author of the Dartmouth Pediatrics study, James D. Sargent, M.D., noted in Pediatrics (July 6, 2004) that major health organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the AMA, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, and the World Health Organization have all urged the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) to rate future on-screen smoking “R,” as it now rates offensive language, and concludes, "If you combined parental R-rated movie restriction with an R-rating for smoking you could have a particularly powerful means of preventing teens from trying smoking.” Our Company’s ownership of movie studios gives it not only motion picture production and distribution capacity but also a seat at MPAA deliberations.

RESOLVED, shareholders request the Board of Directors to report (at reasonable cost and omitting proprietary information) to shareholders on (i) the impact on adolescent health arising from their exposure to smoking in movies (or other Company programming) our Company has released or distributed and (ii) any plans to minimize such impacts in the future.

Move to top