Netflix wants to reduce the number of smoking scenes after criticizing "Stranger Things", other broadcasts



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Netflix has promised to reduce the representations of smoking in new programs, following a report highlighting his hit series "Stranger Things", whose first two seasons were devoted to tobacco in each episode.

"In the future, any new projects we order with TV-14 or less classifications for series or PG-13 or less for movies will be smoke-free and non-smokeless – except for reasons of accuracy. historical or factual, "said a statement shared with CNN by a spokesman for Netflix.

For new projects for an older audience, characters avoid these products "unless it is essential to the artist's creative vision or character (historically or culturally important)."

Later this year, the streaming giant also plans to start including information on smoking in the ranking area that appears in the upper left corner when users start watching a show.

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The company's policy on recently commissioned programs will not directly affect existing programs such as "Stranger Things".

"Netflix strongly supports the artistic expression," the statement said. "We also recognize that smoking is harmful and that a positive image on the screen can have a negative impact on young people."

The Truth Initiative, an anti-smoking lobby, released its latest report on tobacco use on television and streaming programs before the release of the third season of "Stranger Things" this week. By reviewing 13 Netflix series and released, the report revealed that tobacco images had increased overall during the 2016-17 season compared to the previous year. Netflix broadcasts accounted for smoking more often than radio broadcasts.

The report recorded an increase in the number of tobacco shows from the first season of "Stranger Things" to second – from 182 to 262. It also examined Netflix's broadcasts such as "Orange is the new black" and "House" of Cards, "Compared to the series such as The Walking Dead, Modern Family and American Horror Story, cigarettes accounted for almost that electronic cigarettes hardly appeared.

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The Truth Initiative report states that, although it has decided to focus on Netflix, tobacco-related images are not limited to this streaming platform. He cites other examples of smoking characters in Amazon's "The Wonderful Mrs. Maisel" and "Hul year", but does not include them in her analysis. CNN has contacted Amazon and Hulu for a comment.

Experts say that young people who see images of tobacco use in the media are more likely to use them themselves. According to the US Surgeon General's Office, youth "who are most exposed to smoking on the screen [in movies] are about twice as likely to start smoking as those who are least exposed. "

The researchers also considered smoking in other types of media. A study published last year found that nearly half of R & B and hip-hop video clips from 2013 to 2017 had some type of smoking or vaping. Another study found that 42% of video games featured characters doing the same.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have also studied trends in tobacco use in films. According to the CDC, 56% of PG-13 films from 2002 to 2018 show tobacco use. While the percentage of PG-13 films on smoking was down from 2017 to 2018, the number of incidents per movie was up.

"We had known for a long time that the more we saw smoking on the screen, the more likely we were to see young people smoking cigarettes in real life," said Michael Tynan, Public Health Analyst at the Tobacco Board. and the health of the CDC. CNN. "There is a causal link between the two."

Some experts say that these representations can normalize smoking, or even glorify it.

Dan Romer, director of the Adolescent Communication Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, previously told CNN that the films could use smoking "as an indication that this person is a risk taker and a kind of angry character.

"And so, a teenager who finds this call might say," I want to be like this person. I'm going to smoke, "he said.

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