Hollywood's Other Propaganda War

Hollywood has negotiated a truce in the culture wars and won great PR for itself by enlisting in the propaganda war against Osama bin Laden. But Hollywood is squarely on the wrong side, with the bad guys, in a different 'good versus evil' showdown involving a politically powerful international cabal that kills and maims more civilians than Osama could dream in his most optimistic musings. Public health advocates condemning Hollywood's 'product placement' promotion of tobacco are running an advertising campaign of their own in Variety magazine to shame and pressure Hollywood executives. They seek to "sharply reduce the film industry's usefulness to Big Tobacco's domestic and global marketing - a leading cause of disability and premature death." The first ad in a series from Smoke Free Movies ran October 31 and another runs this week.