The company said in a statement Wednesday it had promised "that it will discourage depictions of cigarette smoking in its films and will place an anti-smoking PSA.
LOS ANGELES: Disney says it will ban cigarettes in its family films and discourage depictions of people smoking in other movies.
The Walt Disney Company made the unprecedented pledge in a letter to a US lawmaker, Representative Edward Markey, who recently held hearings on the impact of film images on children.
The company said in a statement Wednesday it had promised "that it will discourage depictions of cigarette smoking in its films and will place an anti-smoking PSA (public service announcement) on DVDs of any future film that does depict smoking."
It added: "Further, Disney will work with theater owners to encourage the exhibition of an anti-smoking PSA before the theatrical exhibition of any such film."
Markey, a Democrat who is chairman of the House Telecommunications and the Internet Subcommittee, praised the company's move, saying that "Disney's decision to take a stand against smoking is groundbreaking.
"Now it's time for other media companies to similarly kick the habit and follow Disney's lead," he said.
Disney's decision comes as health advocates lobby to remove cigarettes from films and after the Motion Picture Association of America announced in May that portrayals of smoking would be taken into account when rating films for a young audience.
Depictions of smoking as glamorous or films that feature "pervasive smoking outside of an historic or other mitigating context" would receive a more restrictive rating, the association said in a May 10 statement.
Dan Glickman, chairman of the industry group, welcomed Disney's new policy, saying "any effort to address tobacco's influence on kids in this country is welcome."
Disney said the approach was good for the company's image and for public health.
"This is good for the perception of Disney, but the primary reason is that cigarette smoking is a hazard and we should avoid depicting it in movies and on television," Disney's CEO, Robert Iger, was quoted as saying by the New York Times on Thursday.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}