E-cigarettes buy their way into movies

Erich Schwartzel, an enterprising reporter for The Wall Street Journal, published an article last week about the e-cigarette industry’s use of paid product placement in American movies (Coming soon to theaters near you: E-cigarettes, 14 Sept 2014). Among other revelations, the story notes that Ryan Kavanaugh, CEO of the “mini-major” movie studio Relativity, serves on an e-cigarette company’s board and aims to use mainstream films to promote the products. Billionaire Ron Burkle, a major political contributor, is Relativity’s second-largest investor.
 
The Wall Street Journal also notes that domestic tobacco giants, barred from placing tobacco products in films by the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement with state attorneys general, could soon be swarming Hollywood to promote the products of their own e-cigarette divisions.
 
Like cigarette placement, which surged after the U.S. banned tobacco advertising on TV and radio in 1970, e-cigarette marketers know that on-screen promos in the hands of movie stars are a powerful tool. Whether the brand is visible or not, e-cigs on the silver screen promote the entire category, benefitting the brands with the largest market share. And teens see more movies than any other age group, so their exposure may be the greatest.
 
The invasion of Hollywood by e-cigarette marketers underscores urgent, global concerns about the impact of tobacco imagery on screen — and the tobacco deals that can still be made, offshore, by film production companies, film distributors (studios) and their parent media conglomerates, talent/management agencies, and “integrated entertainment” packagers already engaged in more than $8 billion* worth of product placement in all brand categories.
 
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Note: The Wall Street Journal is behind a paywall, but if you’re an occasional visitor, you still may be able to access the September 14 story in full:
 
            http://online.wsj.com/articles/coming-soon-to-theaters-near-you-e-cigarettes-1410748204
 
If not, the story was also covered at these links:
 
            http://www.ibtimes.com/e-cigarettes-make-their-way-hollywood-movies-1689236
            http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hollywood-presence-on-the-rise-for-e-cigs/
 
WSJ blog post on health implications:  http://blogs.wsj.com/experts/2014/09/17/stop-glamorizing-drugs-and-smoking-in-movies-and-songs/