[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 44 (Tuesday, April 21, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H2064]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TOBACCO ADVERTISING IN THE MOVIES

  (Mr. HANSEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, what do Kermit the Frog, Rocky Balboa, 
Superman, and James Bond have in common? They have each played the main 
character in movies that advertise tobacco.
  That is right. Big tobacco has paid millions of dollars to place 
their deadly products in films like The Muppet Movie, Rocky II, and 
Superman. Philip Morris even paid $350,000 so that James Bond would 
light up in License to Kill.
  Have your children or grandchildren ever seen Disney movies like Who 
Framed Roger Rabbit or Honey, I Shrunk the Kids? What about Kevin 
Costner's Field of Dreams? More tobacco advertising.
  These are things we hardly notice, but tobacco companies pay millions 
of dollars to have their products in movies for one purpose, to get 
anyone who views the movies, including children and teenagers, to smoke 
that brand of cigarette.
  Let me give you an example. Clint Eastwood's Bridges of Madison 
County, Robert Redford's A River Runs Through It, Paul Hogan's 
Crocodile Dundee, Rick Moranis' Little Shop of Horrors, Michael 
Keaton's Mr. Mom, Kenny Rogers' Coward of the County, and John 
Travolta's Grease, all full of paid advertising from the tobacco 
industry.
  Mr. Speaker, this has got to stop somewhere. When will the people of 
America wake up and see where they are getting had on this deal?

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