Screening an anti-smoking advertisement before movies which glamorise smoking reduces the appeal of smoking images in movies only to young non-smokers, according to a study in the June issue of Tobacco Control.
The authors said careful consideration needed be given to the type of anti-smoking advertisement screened, because the advertisement used in the study appeared to increase intention to smoke in young women smokers.
While 25.6% of smokers who did not see the advertisement said they were likely to be smoking in 12 months time, 38.6% of smokers who saw it said they were still likely to be smoking.
The study involved more than 3,000 cinema goers aged 12-24 years, who were surveyed after watching the same movie at theatres in three Australian states during a three-week period; 18.6% of them were current smokers.
In the second and third weeks, an advertisement was shown before the film warning viewers not to be sucked in by the depiction of smoking in the following feature because that was what the tobacco giants wanted.
The proportion of non-smokers who thought that the smoking in the movie was not okay rose from 43.8% to 47.8% amongst those who had seen the advertisement. It had no significant effect on the views of smokers.
The authors said: Placing an antismoking advertisement before movies that contain smoking scenes can help to immunise young non-smokers against the influences of film stars smoking.