From the ‘who funds this nonsense’ file comes this ludicrous quote:
The researchers noted that even “in instances of smoking being reflected in a negative way, particularly among younger characters, could have an impact on prompting children to smoke cigarettes.”
If anyone really believed this then surely we would immediately cancel all those anti-smoking ads?
The research found that during 400 episodes of the Simpsons there were 795 instances of smoking:
- Smoking was shown in a positive way in two per cent of the cases.
- In 35 per cent of the cases, smoking was depicted in a negative light.
- 63 per cent of smoking scenes were considered neutral.
So, the Simpsons is overwhemingly anti-smoking. A big D’oh to the researchers.
