The next time you are watching an old Hollywood movie from the 30s, 40s, or 50s, look at how Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, John Wayne, Lauren Bacall, Henry Fonda (and many, many other idols of ‘cool’) just can’t seem to ever stop smoking! The Los Angeles Times as well as some other media now revealed the reason why…

- Franc Tausch, PhD, CCHT

 

Actors from the golden age of Hollywood were paid thousands of dollars by tobacco companies to smoke and endorse their products.

A study reveals how more than 200 stars, including matinee idols John Wayne, Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy, all benefited and one firm paid more than $3m in today’s money in a year.

In return, the tobacco firms funded print and radio adverts for the stars and their films.

The research by the University of California, published in the journal Tobacco Control, shows how film classics of the Thirties and Forties still help to advertise smoking today.

The extent of smoking promotion was revealed following the release of documents from anti-smoking court cases.

Gable, Tracy, Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck and Joan Crawford were all top earners in 1937, each taking $10,000 ($146,583 today) in one year’s sponsorship from American Tobacco, makers of the Lucky Strike brand.

Bette Davis and Betty Gable were also among 50 household names giving endorsements-with others such as Bob Hope paid $2,500 ($36,646).

Deals started as talkies took off with Jazz Singer’ star Al Jolson testifying that Lucky Strike was ‘the cigarette of the acting profession’.

The study, which concentrated on the period between 1927 and 1951, points to classic films such as Casablanca and Now, Voyager that feature prominent smoking scenes, and says glamorous publicity posters helped to ‘perpetuate public tolerance’.

Other brands that benefited from the celebrity endorsement included Old Gold, Chesterfield and Camel.

 

The researchers claim that as a result, more young people took up smoking during the era because they were influenced by Hollywood stars.

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Great news: After France and Italy had smoking bans for respectively 1 and 3 years, the countries had up to 15% less occurrences of heart attacks! Research confirms similiar results in Ireland and Scotland.

I guess the message here is: Stop Smoking and have measurably better heart health in only one year! 

- Franc Tausch, PhD, CCHT 

French researchers announced a striking 15% decrease in admissions of patients with myocardial infarction to emergency wards since the public ban on smoking came into effect in restaurants, hotels and casinos in France last January. The announcement was made on 23 February by the National Sanitary Institute.

Similar results were published in Italy on 12 February by the Environmental Health Authority: researchers in Rome found an 11.2 percent reduction of acute coronary events since the January 2005 smoking ban took effect in Italy.

Prof David Thomas, of the European Society of Cardiology and a Senior Cardiologist in the Centre Hospitalier Pitié- Salpêtrière in Paris: "(…) (S)tatistics show the same tendency professionals have already observed in Ireland and Scotland when these countries introduced their own bans on tobacco.

To me, the most striking aspect in this study is the reduction of pollution inside cafés and restaurants by over 35%. Passive smoking has been shown to increase the risk of coronary heart disease and the recent smoking ban is obviously having a beneficial effect on both smokers and non-smokers."

Smoking bans can save lives.

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