August 2010
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 New Findings in CDC Weekly Journal Underscore Need for Strategies to Eliminate Smoking in Major Motion Pictures - Members of Congress Call on Hollywood to Adopt Them, Save Lives
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new data in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) Thursday, August 19, 2010 about the amount of smoking in major motion pictures during the past 18 years. According to the report,"Smoking in Top Grossing Movies-United States, 1991-2009," theater audiences were exposed to 17 billion smoking impressions in 2009 alone, even though 2009 was the first year that a majority of all films were smoke-free. The report is a content analysis of smoking and tobacco incidence in top-grossing films from 1991-2009.
In the last four years, the total number of tobacco incidences in both youth and adult rated films fell. However, in 2009 tobacco incidents in films (1,935) still exceeded those shown in 1998 (1,612). Additionally, the report showed that in 2009 more than half (54 percent) of PG-13 films still featured tobacco imagery - PG-13 films have the most reach among young people.
The report concluded that, "Effective methods to reduce the harms of on-screen tobacco use should be implemented. Policies to decrease the negative impact of movie smoking on youth have been recommended by the World Health Organization and endorsed by a number of public health and health professional organizations. These include awarding R ratings to new movies that portray tobacco imagery. An R rating policy would create an economic incentive for producers to leave smoking out of movies that are marketed to youth. Complementary recommended policies include requiring strong anti-tobacco ads preceding movies that depict smoking, not allowing tobacco brand display in movies, and requiring producers of movies depicting tobacco use to certify that person or companies associated with the production received any consideration for that depiction."
On the same day, members of Congress called on the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) to act on this critical and timely issue. Read the letter.
To read the full release, click here.
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Smokers Can Say "iQuit" with BECOME AN EX® iPhone App
Quitting smoking just got a little easier with the EX iPhone App, which allows users to connect directly to the EX plan to beat their smoking cravings. Legacy and Apperian Inc. developed the app for iPhone to help smokers "re-learn" their lives without cigarettes while on the go. Users can play games, watch videos or read top news articles to overcome an urge to smoke by re-focusing their minds on something other than cigarettes. Smokers can also use the app to monitor their smoking behavior throughout the day, so that they can have advance knowledge about when a cigarette craving will most likely hit and can be better prepared to handle it.
 The app also connects users to the online EX community at www.BecomeAnEX.org, where they can provide and receive support from other EX members. The app will provide continued updates and include more features in future months. It is available from the App Store: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-ex-plan/id369931367?mt=8.
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Zombies help truth® invade reality TV
truth®, the nation's largest smoking prevention campaign for youth, is teaming up with MTV Networks again, this time to tell the stories of zombies that haunt, eat and tell the "truth" about tobacco. The Real World: Zombieville is a parody that will run alongside The Real World's on-air season based in New Orleans, mirroring the program in tone and style, where hand-held cameras intercut with "confessional" testimonials from the cast. Shot in the vein of horror comedy movies like Shaun of the Dead and 28 Days, "Zombieville" will feature hungry zombies stalking the streets, trying to lure the cast out of their comfy house. Each of the six episodes will highlight a different aspect of tobacco, including information about warning labels, the dangers of secondhand smoke, teen smoking and how Big Tobacco aggressively targeted different groups of consumers, including children and young women. For more details, a section of the MTV website will include the Zombieville spots, background information on the Zombieville cast, and behind-the-scenes footage. Trailers for Zombieville began on August 18th and the episodes will then run through the Real World season, ending September 15th.
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Find Legacy on GoodSearch.com
The next time you are online and need to look something up, visit GoodSearch.com - it will get you the answer you need as well as donate money to a good cause.
Online search engines generate billions of dollars in advertising revenue annually. GoodSearch.com works like any other search engine, but it donates 50 percent of its sponsored search revenue to charities and schools designated by its users. Legacy is now a member of its charitable organizations and on August 12th was recently featured as the Charity of the Day on GoodSearch.com and GoodShop.com (an online shopping mall).
To download the GoodSearch and GoodShop toolbar for regular use, click here.
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truth® Celebrates 10 Years on Capitol Hill
Legacy hosted approximately 80 Hill staff and interns August 3 on Capitol Hill in celebration of 10 years' of truth®. Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) also made an appearance and spoke about truth's achievements in informing teens about the dangers of smoking.
The event featured some of this summer's truth crew members - young people in their early 20s who spend the summer traveling to popular musical and sporting events to reach teens about tobacco use. Crew members interacted with attendees and demonstrated some of the ways they talk to teens on the road during the summer tour. For example, the marketers challenged some interns in attendance to a game of "truth Says," a version of Simon Says.
Additionally, each of the truth crew members discussed their experiences on the tour and how they felt they have made an impact. Throughout the event, screens played classic truth ads, and showed tour-related programming.
Here's to another 10 years!
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Consider Your Source: Facts about Menthol
Should a company that makes more than a billion dollars a year selling a deadly product be a reliable source of information regarding that product and its ingredients? "Consider Your Source" and see how Legacy counters the tobacco industry's messages about menthol products and more. Legacy launched the webpage on August 16 in order to provide accurate information to counter the website created by tobacco manufacturer Lorillard. Lorillard's site was created as the FDA reviews and considers how to treat menthol-flavored cigarettes.
While the tobacco industry claims that menthol-flavored cigarettes are no worse than other cigarettes, Consider Your Source confirms:
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All cigarettes are deadly, whether they are flavored or not. -
Menthol cigarettes are disproportionally smoked by African-Americans and members of other racial/ethnic communities, contributing to the widespread occurrence of tobacco-related illness. -
A starter tobacco product for youth, menthol cigarettes are less harsh to smoke and are particularly attractive to new and young smokers.
In addition to countering the myths presented by the tobacco industry, Consider Your Source also gives a call to action urging consumers, tobacco commodities analysts, journalists and others to know the facts on menthol cigarettes. Supported by Legacy, Consider Your Source has also focused on Philip Morris' ineffective attempt at youth prevention and cessation advertising campaigns.
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Legacy Now Part of the Combined Federal Campaign
Legacy is now a participating national charity in the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), the largest and most successful annual workplace charity campaign. Each year the campaign raises millions of dollars through the generous support of Federal civilian, postal and military donors.
Are you a Federal employee? In the military? Work for the US Postal Service? Do you have friends or family who are Federal employees? If so, when the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) comes to your/their workplace this fall, please look for Legacy's listing among the national/international independent agencies under charity # 19203 (American Legacy Foundation) and support our work as generously as you can through your CFC donation!
Every donation matters to Legacy's mission to build a world where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit. The campaign seasons runs from September 1-December 15, 2010. Thank you for considering Legacy as your charity of choice for the CFC!
 CFC Charity # 19203 (American Legacy Foundation) |
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