The next time you bring home a new video and pop it into the player, it could have one more bit of information on it.
Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller has joined with attorneys general from 40 other states in asking Hollywood to add anti-smoking public service announcements to any DVD containing a movie where the characters use tobacco.
Bob Brammer, a spokesman for Iowa’s Attorney General, says people have probably already seen these PSA’s before. One, titled “Shards of Glass,” aired during the Super Bowl a couple years ago. He says “they are proven to be effective — young people were involved in the making of them, they’ve been evaluated and analyzed so they’re not just going to be dismissed by young people.”
Brammer says the influence of popular culture shapes a lot of the habits of teens and that can include seeing stars in hit movies light up and these spots are an effort to balance that influence. Brammer contends the PSAs are effective and eye-catching and “they’re free — and they’re in the hands of the movie houses, thanks to the attorneys general.”
Brammer says the movie producers already put other PSA’s on the disks, so it’s not asking much for them to insert a non-smoking PSA whenever the movie on the disk includes characters who smoke.