The Parents Television and Media Council called on Warner Bros. Discovery entertainment company to stop showing main characters using tobacco in its youth-oriented shows, like "The Idol," possibly violating its own policy.
"Warner Bros. Discovery is serving glamorous portrayals of smoking to youth audiences in 'The Idol' in violation of its own policy that states tobacco depictions should be reduced or eliminated," Melissa Henson, vice president of the Parents Television and Media Council said in a press release Monday. "This is outrageous and the company must do better for the sake of youth who are inevitably watching and absorbing these harmful messages."
Specifically, the "non-partisan education organization advocating responsible entertainment," said that the character of "Jocelyn" in the show is frequently shown smoking cigarettes.
The group said it was founded in 1995 to ensure that "children are not constantly assaulted by sex, violence, and profanity on television and other media."
Warner Bros. has a policy on tobacco use on its website, saying that while it supports the artistic freedom of expression and "creative vision" of producers, writers, directors, actors, and others involved in the filmmaking process, the studios "strive to produce and distribute feature films in a responsible manner and remain sensitive to public concerns, industry practices and public health regulations and research in this area as they evolve over time."
The policy said the studios endeavor to "reduce or eliminate" depictions of tobacco use and products unless there is a "compelling creative reason" for doing so.
Newsmax reached out to Warner Bros. by email on Monday but did not receive a reply.
Although the group highlighted Warner Bros. in the release, Henson also mentioned other shows on Netflix and HBO that depict smoking.
"As recent as 2019, Netflix publicly recognized smoking’s harms and potential impact on young viewers and pledged to reduce smoking portrayals," Henson said in the release. "So why is it continuing to allow smoking to be glamorized in its shows?"
The call from the group comes as tobacco use rose among American youth in 2018 by 27%, including a 20.8% rise in the use of E-cigarettes, and an increase of 8.1% in using cigarettes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The agency reported 1.5 million more youth E-cigarette users in 2018 than the previous year and a total of 4.9 million tobacco users nationwide.
According to the CDC, tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable disease, disability, and death in the U.S.
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