For Immediate Release
October 24, 2006
Media Contact:
Kevin Enright 410-576-6357
CURRAN ANNOUNCES THAT THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY
WILL
ADD ANTI-SMOKING PSA’S TO NEWEST DVD RELEASE
Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. announced
today that The Weinstein Company is the first motion
picture company to insert anti-smoking public service announcements
in DVD’s in which smoking is depicted. The Weinstein Company (TWC)
was responding to a September
2006 letter to Hollywood’s 13 major motion picture companies,
which was signed by the Attorneys General from 41 States. Beginning
with the December release of “Clerks
II,” the Weinstein Company’s upcoming DVD’s, which
are distributed by TWC’s exclusive home entertainment distributor
Genius Products, will include an anti-smoking
ad created by the American Legacy Foundation.
“I cannot thank Bob and Harvey Weinstein enough,” said Attorney
General Curran. “We have been trying for years to get Hollywood
studios to work with us on what we believe is meaningful protection
for our children, and the Weinsteins have taken that all-important first
step.”
Curran’s September request offered free and unlimited use of
teen-targeted anti-smoking ads developed for the truth®
campaign of the American Legacy Foundation, created pursuant
to the 1998 settlement of the states' tobacco litigation against the
major tobacco companies. As of this date, no other studios have responded
to this PSA offer.
“ We are very proud to be the first to sign onto this important
initiative,” said Bob and Harvey Weinstein. "The
Attorney General made a very sensible request, and we think the concept
has a lot of merit.” The Weinsteins added, “Hopefully our
Company’s decision to move forward will make other studios reconsider
the idea.”
Harvey Weinstein added, “As a former smoker, I feel like it’s
my responsibility to do everything I can to educate young people about
the dangers of smoking. We really hope this initiative will have an
impact with viewers across the country.”
Cheryl G. Healton, Dr. P.H., President and Chief Executive Officer
of the American Legacy Foundation stated, “Our hope is that the
Weinsteins’ bold move sets a trend with other decision makers
in Hollywood. It is a simple way to prevent thousands of youth from
smoking, and can ultimately reduce tobacco addiction and premature death."
Tobacco remains the number one preventable cause of death in the United
States and 80 percent of adult smokers begin before age 18. Research
has shown that teens are strongly influenced by seeing actors they idolize
smoke on screen, regardless of the characters they play. To counteract
this, the Attorneys General have repeatedly asked the Motion
Picture Association of America, and the major studios to show
youth smoking prevention public service messages in theaters and on
DVDs before films that contain smoking. The Attorneys General also asked
the National Association of Theatre Owners and its
members to run such messages in their theaters.
The Weinstein Company is the first studio to proactively offer to
embed a classic truth® campaign ad in its DVD release of one its
most popular films. “We applaud The Weinstein Company for leading
the way to deter young movie viewers from smoking,” said Curran.
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