Tobacco in film and television

As part of the project investigating tobacco and alcohol imagery in film and television content, the 300 most popular films, based on box office earnings, in the UK over the twenty years from 1989 until 2008 (15 films for each year), were content coded for smoking and other tobacco related imagery including tobacco use, tobacco paraphernalia, inferred tobacco use and tobacco brand appearances.  Findings showed that tobacco imagery was evident in 70% of all films.

British Board of Film Classification (BBFC)

BBFC is the independent, non-government body funded through fees from films submitted, which classifies films into age categories based on each film's suitability for viewing by the audience (see box 1) on behalf of local authorities, who license cinemas under the Licensing Act 2003.  Each of the films included in the study was therefore classified into one of the following five age classification categories.  

Box1: BBFC age rated restriction categories for films viewed in UK cinema

Universal (U)	Suitable for all audiences
Parent Guidance (PG)	General viewing, but some scences may be unsuitable for young children
12/12A*	(12) Suitable for 12 years and older (12A) under 12's must be accompanied by an adult
15	Suitable for 15 years and over
18	Suitable for 18 years and older
*12 and 12A rated films have been amalgamated as the 12A film rating replaced the 12 rating for cinema and film viewing in 2002

Findings

The majority of the films (68%) that contained at least one episode of tobacco imagery were classified by the BBFC as suitable for viewing by children and young people under the age of 18, and more than a third (39%) were classified by the BBFC as suitable for viewing by children and young people under the age of 15.

The case was similar for tobacco use, predominantly cigarette smoking, which was evident in more than half of all films (59%).  Of those films containing at least one episode of tobacco use imagery, 92% were classified by the BBFC as suitable for viewing by children and young people under the age of 18, and 56% were classified by the BBFC as suitable for viewing by children and young people under the age of 15.

Because these findings showed high levels of tobacco use and tobacco related imagery, we contact the BBFC to discuss the issue.  In addition to discussions with the BBFC, we also contacted the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), as one of DCMS responsobilities is to set UK film culture and industry policy. 

Below are links to the correspondence between UKCTCS and both the BBFC, DCMS and the BBC