Tobacco Imagery in the 50 Most Popular Malaysian Movies Released During 2015-2019.

Publisher: Oxford University Press Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 9815751 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1469-994X (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 14622203 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Nicotine Tob Res Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: <2009->: Oxford : Oxford University Press
Original Publication: Abingdon, Oxfordshire, UK : Carfax Pub. and Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, c1999-

Motion Pictures* ; Tobacco Use*; Adolescent ; Humans ; Smoking/epidemiology ; Tobacco Smoking

Introduction: Exposure to tobacco imagery creates a positive impression about smoking and is associated with youth smoking uptake.
Methods: From the list of movies released during 2015-2019, we selected the top 10 movies per year rated by the Malaysian Film Development Corporation. Two researchers coded tobacco imagery in each movie considering 5-minute time intervals as a unit. The 5-minute interval coding was adopted from previous research for comparability. Frequencies and the average occurrence of tobacco imagery were compared by movie language, genre, and age categorization.
Results: In 50 movies analyzed, there were a total of 1037 five-minute intervals of which 26 (52%) movies and 277 (26.7%) of intervals tobacco imagery were present. Brand appearances were absent and health warnings about tobacco use were present in just one movie. The proportions of intervals containing actual use, paraphernalia, and implied use were 63.5%, 22.0%, and 14.5%. Tobacco imagery of actual use, paraphernalia, and implied use was present in 25, 20, and 10 movies, respectively. In those movies with tobacco imagery, the average number of occurrences of actual use, paraphernalia, and implied use was 3 (interquartile range [IQR] 2-11.5), 2.5 (IQR 1.3-4.0), and 1 (IQR 1-4), respectively. Movies classified as "p13" (median 6, IQR 6-13) and "18" (median 5, IQR 0-15) had higher average occurrences of tobacco imagery than "U" movies (median 0, IQR 0-2; p = .028).
Conclusions: The lack of health warnings despite the presence of tobacco imagery in Malaysian movies calls for measures to regulate tobacco-related content and reclassify such movies as "for adults-only."
Implications: Tobacco imagery was prevalent in Malaysian movies that are allowed viewing by individuals aged 13 years and above. A review of the age categorization of Malaysian movies and the placement of health warnings in movies is needed. A comprehensive implementation of the ban on tobacco advertisements, promotion, and sponsorship should also include a ban on tobacco imagery in movies.
(© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: [email protected].)

Date Created: 20231011 Date Completed: 20240325 Latest Revision: 20240329

20240330

10.1093/ntr/ntad198

37819726