New report shows tobacco imagery continues to influence youth vaping initiation through on-screen entertainment most popular among 15- to 24-year-olds
WASHINGTON, March 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With streaming entertainment options growing in popularity and nearly every Best Picture nominee at the 2023 Academy Awards featuring smoking, a new report, released today, shows continued high levels of tobacco imagery across TV shows, movies, and music videos, even as peer-reviewed research shows on-screen exposure to these images makes young people three times more likely to start vaping nicotine. "Tobacco's Starring Role," Truth Initiative's fifth annual "While You Were Streaming" study of the most popular onscreen entertainment among 15- to 24-year-olds, found that 25 million young people were exposed to tobacco imagery on top television shows, along with 25 million through top box office movies. Smoking's insidious presence in entertainment media is cause for serious concern given more than 2.5 million high school and middle school students in the U.S. used e-cigarettes in 2022, according to the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) with 46% of a high schoolers who vape doing so almost daily.
- "When young people see smoking imagery, they are three times more likely to start vaping nicotine themselves.
- Key findings include:
Of the 15 most popular streaming shows among 15- to 24-year-olds, 60% contained depictions of tobacco in 2021, a persistently high and unchanged number versus last year's report and regularly exposed 25 million young people to tobacco imagery. - Animated cartoon shows continue to feature tobacco imagery, even those rated for youth and popular to binge-watch among young people.
- Of note, Fox's "Bob's Burgers" eliminated all tobacco imagery in its latest season, showing it is possible for these shows to take positive action.