DOES SMOKING ON SCREEN STILL GLAMORISE SMOKING AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE

According to a recent study (Impact of Smoking and Vaping in Films on Smoking and Vaping Uptake in Adolescents: 2022) exposure to high levels of smoking imagery in films was still associated with an increased likelihood of smoking uptake, despite the incredible amount of knowledge and evidence that we have these days about the damage that cigarettes can do to your health.

The same study also concluded that vaping imagery in films was associated with an uptake in vaping among young people – which indicates that we have not learnt the lessons of our grandparents from the golden age of Hollywood.

When you think back to the golden days of Hollywood, when screen legends such as Marlene Dietrich, Audrey Hepburn and James Dean, were rarely pictured without a cigarette clenched between their fingers it is not surprising that smoking was perceived as a glamorous pastime for the rich and beautiful. This perception caused a desire that transcended societal barriers.

These days, smoking cigarettes is frowned upon to the degree that those stars who do still smoke tend to do so in secret. Occasionally they may be caught by the paparazzi having a sneaky drag away from supposedly prying eyes. However, it is no longer consider cool and glamorous, and definitely not part of their public image.

Ups and downs of smoking rates

Cigarettes were a socially acceptable habit across the globe until the end of the 21st century. During the first and second world wars. Cigarettes were issued to soldiers free of charge as part of their supplies. Having created the habit, when they returned home the smoking habit persisted among all sectors of society.

By the 1980s the damaging effects of smoking was widely acknowledged, and governments began to crack down on how cigarettes were advertised and sold in retail. Eventually there was a total ban on smoking in indoor spaces (in 2007). Today, smoking tobacco in the UK is historically at its lowest rate ever.

Impact of vaping

However when you take into account the increase in vaping rates, there is a skewing of the overall picture that questions whether those who have given up tobacco but are vaping have really given up smoking, or simply swapped one potentially life threatening habit for another that is still under review in terms of effects on one’s health.

Across TV box sets and films these days, a vaping kit is increasingly being featured in the place of a cigarette. Johnny Depp in The Tourist, Dennis Quaid in Beneath the Darkness, and Zac Efron in Dirty Grandpa are all famous celebrities for whom vaping has become part of the cinematic landscape. 

This celebrity embracing of the vaping culture is poised to supercharge the vaping industry as a whole. At the moment, the vaping industry is worth an estimated $28 billion – nearly a threefold increase in the last five years. And this is set to grow exponentially in the next five to ten years, with a projected market value of over $180 billion.

While the stars of screen continue to have an impact on vaping rates, even more impactful is social media. In the same way that Hollywood glamorised tobacco in the thirties and forties and beyond, influencers on social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram are creating their own narrative which makes vaping look cool and stylish, posting artistic images of themselves covered in swathes of vaping steam. While individually countries are putting regulations and safeguards in place, to protect vulnerable children from being targeted with these images, the ubiquitous international nature of social media makes it almost impossible to effectively police.