It is a general consensus that smoking is unhealthy. However, it is not clear how to deal with the cinematic depiction of cigarette consumption. With Netflix, a big name is currently being criticized for showing smoking scenes too often and too positively.
Actually, Netflix had already announced in 2019 that it would drastically reduce smoking in its own productions, especially with a younger target group. It doesn’t seem to have worked that well so far.
Three senators from the US Democratic Party — Ed Markey (Massachusetts), Chris Van Hollen (Maryland) and Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut) — urged Netflix in a letter, according to Bloomberg, “to take more aggressive action to remove these images[of people smoking]. , editor’s note) and reduce the consumption of this harmful content by young people”.
More frequent depiction of tobacco use in series
In their letter, the senators refer to the Truth Initiative report from January 2022, which states that Netflix shows significantly more scenes in which smoking or so-called vaping can be seen. In general, the non-profit initiative for public health mentions in its report an increased depiction of tobacco consumption in series, especially with the target group of 15 to 24 year olds.
“Smoking, often portrayed as glamorous and offbeat, remains ubiquitous on screen, although research warns that its prominence can influence young people to take up smoking or vaping.”
Truth Initiative
Netflix promised improvement in 2019
There has been a debate about the depiction of smoking, especially in series with a young target group, for several years, which was further fueled by the booming streaming market. Among other things, the industry magazine Variety reported at the time that the depiction of smoking people was increasing again. Even then, it was clearly criticized: Netflix, for example with its popular series “Stranger Things”.
The streaming giant responded by announcing that all new original productions aiming for a TV 14 rating would be free of smoking scenes. The only exceptions are scenes in which the consumption of (e) cigarettes is important for an accurate representation. Netflix also wanted to make improvements in productions for older audiences, albeit less rigorously.
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An above-average number of smoking scenes in Netflix series
The Truth Initiative report explicitly analyzed popular series of 2020:
In the breakdown, two popular Netflix series are at the top – and by a clear margin: “Queen’s Gambit” and “The Umbrella Academy”. It is followed by “On My Block” at No. 6 and “Big Mouth” at No. 7, among others. Frontrunner of previous studies on this topic, “Stranger Things”, is missing from the list, but probably primarily because 2020 is no new season of the popular series appeared.
Based on this data, the three US senators are demanding a new statement from Netflix by April 21 and a solution to the problem. So far, Netflix has not commented on it.