Important new report on tobacco promotion in video games

Just before the holidays, Truth Initiative released an important report, Played: Smoking in Video Games, that highlights the fact that the movies are not the only entertainment medium that help sell tobacco to kids.
 
Here are the main conclusions:
 
• Tobacco use is prevalent in video games played by youth.
 
• Tobacco use in video games is viewed as making characters “tougher” or “grittier.” In some cases, players can choose to make their characters use tobacco, and in other cases, players have no choice about whether their characters use tobacco.
 
• Tobacco use in video games is likely to promote youth smoking. The U.S. Surgeon General has concluded that exposure to tobacco use in films promotes youth smoking. Video games are likely to work in similar ways.
 
• Video game content descriptors often fail to mention tobacco use.
 
WHAT INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS CAN DO TO ENSURE TOBACCO USE IN VIDEO GAMES IS NOT CONTRIBUTING TO YOUTH TOBACCO USE:
 
• Monitor the content of games purchased for and used by youth.
 
• Urge the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) to rate games containing tobacco with a “Mature” rating and disclose tobacco use in all games where it occurs.
 
• Call on game developers and publishers to immediately stop including tobacco use and tobacco images in their games, particularly those marketed to or played by youth.
 
The full report is available here and worth a read.
 
Hopefully progress on smoking in the movies will lay the foundation for progress in video games and other entertainment media.
 
This post originally appeared on the Smoke Free Movies blog at http://smokefreemovies.ucsf.edu/blog/important-new-report-tobacco-promot...