Smoking is more common in Icelandic movies than in those from eight other countries included in a recent international study, RÚV reports. The results of the study were published on BioMedCentral.com.
The study focused on smoking and alcohol consumption in US produced movies and compared them to films from six European countries and two Latin American ones.
The countries involved in the study were the US, Iceland, Poland, the Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, Germany, the UK, Argentina, and Mexico.
Movies included in the study were released 2004-2009. Smoking turned out to be the most common in Icelandic films, but smoking occurred in 94 percent of the Icelandic films studied. Product placement has been prohibited in US films since 1997, and a similar ban was put in place in the European Union ten years ago.
The researchers who conducted the study suggest, “Countries should consider banning paid placement of both products [tobacco and alcohol] and eliminating subsidies for films with content that promotes tobacco and alcohol use.”
Four years ago, the Progressive Party introduced a parliamentary resolution suggesting denying public funds to plays and movies involving smoking. That met with harsh criticism from film producers who saw it as a dangerous step toward censorship.
