On the World No Tobacco Day, the Union health ministry on Wednesday notified the amended rules under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2004, making it mandatory for OTT platforms to display anti-tobacco warnings as are seen in movies screened in theatres and TV programmes.
According to the notification, publishers of online curated content displaying tobacco products or their use will be required to display anti-tobacco health spots each of a minimum of 30 seconds at the beginning and middle of the programme. They shall also be required to exhibit an anti-tobacco health warning as a prominent static message at the bottom of the screen when tobacco products or their use are displayed during the programme.
Also, an audio-visual disclaimer of a minimum of 20 seconds on the ill-effects of tobacco use will have to be also displayed at the beginning and middle of the programme, the source stated. “The anti-tobacco health warning message as specified in clause(b) of sub-rule (1) shall be legible and readable, with font in black colour on white background and with the warnings ‘Tobacco causes cancer’ or ‘Tobacco kills’,” the notification stated.
Besides, the anti-tobacco health warning messages, health spots and audio-visual disclaimers will have to be in the same language as used in the online curated content. The display of tobacco products or their use in online curated content shall not extend to display of the brands of cigarettes or other tobacco products or any form of tobacco product placement and display of tobacco products or their use in promotional materials.
According to a senior ministry official, the decision was taken following discussions with the Information and Broadcasting ministry and other stakeholders.
Amid the development, let’s take a look at the history of tobacco warnings in cinema:
Hollywood
1920s to 1950s: As per a report by University of California, San Francisco, during the era spanning from the 1920s to the 1950s, tobacco companies forged a close alliance with the world of Hollywood. This partnership began in 1927, coinciding with the introduction of “talking pictures.”
In the late 1930s and through the 1940s, it became commonplace for two out of three top adult movie stars to endorse cigarettes in advertisements and even smoke on screen. Astonishingly, in just a single year, tobacco companies committed to paying these stars a substantial sum of at least $3.3 million (adjusted for today’s currency) for their advertising services.
These cross-promotion agreements were primarily facilitated by major movie studios, which held their stars under strict contracts. In return for their cooperation, the studios enjoyed national advertising campaigns that promoted their own stars and showcased their latest films, all funded by the tobacco companies.
Throughout this period, various tobacco brands, such as Lucky Strike (American Tobacco), Old Gold (Lorillard), Camel (RJ Reynolds), Chesterfield (Liggett & Myers), and Raleigh (Brown & Williamson), collaborated with Paramount, Warner Bros., Fox, MGM, Columbia, RKO, United Artists, and Universal Studios. Remarkably, many of these studios continue to operate today.
In the early 1950s, tobacco companies redirected their advertising investments toward a burgeoning medium: television. However, the collaboration between tobacco and Hollywood resurfaced in the 1970s after cigarette commercials were banned from television and radio broadcasts.
After 1970:
1972 | Following the ban on tobacco commercials on US radio and television, a film producer proposed to RJ Reynolds that movies were a superior platform for advertising. The producer claimed that films surpassed any commercial in terms of audience engagement since viewers were unaware of any sponsor involvement.
1982 | Cunningham & Walsh, an advertising agency, presented product placement opportunities to its tobacco client, Brown & Williamson. The agency highlighted that prominent feature films had begun incorporating specific cigarette brands through paid placements. For instance, in Superman II, a memorable fight scene involved Superman and the villains tossing a Marlboro truck back and forth across Lexington Avenue. This truck was created exclusively for the movie and did not exist elsewhere.
1983 | Hamish Maxwell, president of Philip Morris International (later chairman of Philip Morris Companies, now Altria), urged his marketers to combat the perception that smoking was unfashionable and unhealthy. Maxwell expressed delight in witnessing a growing number of instances in movies where leading ladies were seen holding packs of cigarettes. This marked a significant shift compared to just a few years prior when cigarettes rarely appeared on camera. He emphasized the need to seize new opportunities to feature cigarettes on screen and in the hands of smokers.
1989 | By the end of the 1980s, tobacco product placement in films had become so conspicuous that it triggered a Congressional investigation. The scrutiny caused setbacks to proactive promotion plans, as noted by American Tobacco’s product placement agency. Nonetheless, the agency listed more than a dozen instances of American Tobacco brands, including Lucky Strike, being placed in films produced by Columbia, Disney, Fox, MGM, Universal, and Warner Bros. between 1988 and 1990.
India’s Groundbreaking Rules for Tobacco Warnings
In 2012, India implemented a pioneering set of regulations aimed at curbing the impact of onscreen smoking and other forms of tobacco use. Under these rules, any film featuring smoking scenes must include a warning and an advertisement highlighting the hazards of tobacco use, both produced by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. These warnings are displayed before the film or video and during the intermission, which is common in most Bollywood films. Additionally, a static warning about tobacco use must be visibly shown on the screen during any portrayal of such activities, as per the University of California report.
Amit Yadav and Stanton Glantz’s study titled “Tobacco imagery in entertainment media: evolution of tobacco-free movies and television programmes rules in India” study documents the arduous seven-year struggle to establish these regulations.
Despite facing considerable opposition from Bollywood and the Ministry of Information and Broadcast, the efforts of health advocates, backed by strong support from the Minister of Health, NGOs, the World Health Organization (WHO), and members of Parliament, ultimately prevailed. The study provides a comprehensive account of the battle to secure these rules, which have revolutionized the depiction of tobacco in Indian movies and television programs.
What Do the New Rules Say?
“If the publisher of online curated content fails to comply with the provisions of sub-rules (1) to (5), an inter ministerial committee consisting of representatives from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, shall take action suo motu or on a complaint, and after identifying the publisher of online curated content, issue notice giving reasonable opportunity to explain such failure and make appropriate modification in the content,” the notification said.
The expression online curated content means any curated catalogue of audio-visual content, other than news and current affairs content, which is owned by, licensed to, or contracted to be transmitted by a publisher of online curated content, and made available on demand, including but not limited through subscription, over the internet or computer networks, and includes films, audio visual programmes,television programmes, serials, series and other such content.
PTI contributed to this report
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