The Award for Outstanding Tobacco-Free Show Goes to…. Shōgun!
Tobacco littered the screen in both the 76th Emmy Awards ceremony and Emmy award-winning shows at this year’s 76th Primetime Emmy Awards. The Emmy’s, hosted on Peacock this year, acknowledge artistic and technical achievements in the television industry. After seven of the ten films nominated for Best Picture in the 2023 Oscars and nearly two-thirds of all Oscar-nominated feature films in 2023 contained tobacco imagery, Breathe California Sacramento Region’s Tobacco-Free Screens staff hoped that less tobacco imagery would be highlighted and awarded at the Emmy’s.
However, during the ceremony, tobacco product placement took center stage as beloved sitcom dads George Lopez (George Lopez), Damon Wayans (My Wife and Kids), and Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family) came together to present Lead Actor in a Comedy Series on a stage set seemingly designed for the ‘typical’ TV dad. Two unlit cigars in an ashtray are placed on a cocktail table in front of George Lopez, featured centrally in the scene. With the panning in and out of frame, 18 cigar incident counts were noted, using our coding method. Although cigars are never used, it begs the question- what was the purpose of cigar placement in this scene highlighting father figures on television? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 6.2% of adult men in the US smoke cigars, compared to 1.0% of women. Cigar smoking is associated with a higher risk of oral, esophageal, laryngeal, and lung cancer and a marked increase in risk for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)[i]. The dated narrative that smoking cigars conveys signs of power, wealth, and relaxation is ironic when the reality is tobacco kills and smoking cigars may lead to a shorter life for users, many of whom are men. Perceptions of harm around cigars are concerning. According to Truth Initiative reporting, more respondents rated cigars as less risky than cigarettes than they rated other tobacco products, even though cigar smoke contains higher concentrations of toxic and carcinogenic compounds than cigarette smoke.[ii] Placing cigars on the coffee table in this scripted scene at the Emmy’s continues to perpetuate the norm of tobacco use being common, relatively harmless, and fun. With the highest viewership in three years, and 6.87 million viewers, the impact of tobacco product placement at events like the Emmy’s is wide-reaching.[iii] Despite cunning product placement during the “man cave” skit, the limelight was stolen by the tobacco-free cinematographic masterpiece, Shōgun.
A historical, jaw-dropping moment for the Emmy’s occurred when the period piece, Shōgun took home a total of 18 award wins, making it the most decorated show in a single season.[v] Shōgun’s awards include Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, and Directing for a Drama Series. Japan celebrated the cultural win with pride for both Hiroyuki Sanada, the first Japanese actor to win an Emmy for best lead actor in a drama series and his counterpart, Anna Sawai, for best actress in a drama. Breathe California Sacramento Region celebrated the victory that Shōgun is completely tobacco-free throughout the entire season, despite taking place in a time and place when tobacco use would have been quite common and widespread. In a media landscape where period pieces typically include the ‘historically accurate’ tobacco (Oppenheimer, Back to Black, The Crown, Peaky Blinders), Shōgun serves as a prime example that tobacco imagery is not necessary to create a masterpiece. Runner-ups to the record-breaking winner Shōgun include The Bear, Baby Reindeer, and Hacks. All these top award-winning shows were plagued with heavy tobacco imagery and pro-tobacco messaging. In addition, Quiz Lady took home the award for Outstanding Television Movie which contained e-cigarette/vape use by star Sandra Oh.
From 2022 to 2023, the number of tobacco depictions increased by 110% on streaming shows most popular with 15–24-year-olds and tobacco imagery in the top binge watched shows nearly quadrupled, according to data that the Tobacco-Free Screens team and youth volunteers collected, published in Truth Initiative’s Lights, Camera, Tobacco report.[vi] We know from the same reporting that exposure to smoking imagery in streaming shows can triple the odds of a young person starting to use e-cigarettes, making tobacco imagery on screens a pervasive issue that impacts most of our country. As an organization, we continue to fight for age-ratings for both television and movies to take tobacco imagery into consideration, raise awareness of the issues tobacco imagery in media contributes to. We applaud the creative forces behind shows like Shōgun for paving a new way forward – Emmy-Award winning media without tobacco!
Authors; Ellen Brickey and Savannah Olivier
[i] https://truthinitiative.org/research-resources/traditional-tobacco-products/cigars-facts-stats-and-regulations
[ii] https://truthinitiative.org/research-resources/traditional-tobacco-products/cigars-facts-stats-and-regulations
[iii] https://www.tvinsider.com/1152560/emmys-ratings-2024/
[iv] https://ew.com/tv-dads-tribute-emmys-2024-george-lopez-damon-wayans-jesse-tyler-ferguson-8712961
[v] https://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners
[vi] https://truthinitiative.org/lights-camera-tobacco