The Simpsons may prompt kids to start smoking.

Simpsons 'may prompt' smoking

KRUSTY the Clown might have a pacemaker, and Selma and Patty raspy voices, but that doesn't mean children will be repelled by the cigarettes hanging out of their mouths on The Simpsons.

A study of the US cartoon - rated one of the most popular TV shows in history - has raised concern that a high incidence of smoking among the characters might encourage young viewers to pick up the habit.

Researchers Dr Guy Eslick, an international fellow of the International Union Against Cancer, and Marielle Eslick, analysed 400 episodes of the first 18 seasons of the show.

Nice job if you could get it.

They found a whopping 795 instances of smoking or references to smoking.

GASP.

Smoking was mostly portrayed in a neutral way, but in 35 per cent of cases it had negative connotations and 2 per cent of the time it was shown to be positive.

The research found that although Laramie cigarettes have been out of production in the US since the 1950s, the brand is widely used on cigarette packets in the series.

Laramie's corporate mascot, "Menthol Moose" - a parody of Joe Camel, the advertising mascot for Camel cigarettes - also sponsors a children's beauty pageant and appears in Springfield parades.

While the researchers acknowledged the move may have been intended as satirical, they said that even when smoking is portrayed in a negative way, it can still influence young people's behaviour.

May have been? Why else would they have chosen a company that hasn't been around since the 1950s?

The researchers concluded that "just being exposed to The Simpsons characters smoking in so many episodes may prompt children to consider smoking at an early age".

The study was published as the Cancer Council Australia yesterday urged the Federal Government to increase the size of graphic warnings on tobacco products.

The call was made on World No Tobacco Day.

If you're like me and wondering "what the fuck is 'World No Tobacco Day' supposed to mean?" It's apparently not engrish, just bad word choice.

Aren't they a little late to jump on the "Oh no! Television is ruining our children!" bandwagon? One for Penn and Teller.

Hey, it takes some time to watch 18 seasons of the Simpsons in order to count and code any smoking references. And get paid to do it.

Hey, it takes some time to watch 18 seasons of the Simpsons in order to count and code any smoking references. And get paid to do it.

Hey that is a pretty sweet job to get paid to watch the Simpsons.

The people doing the watching and coding probably weren't getting paid. But that'd be almost the best possible graduate assistantship research work.

I had to write a 2000 word essay on the Simpsons when I was at uni. I got a HD for it, and it was the only assignment that I ever handed in a week early in my entire schooling "career".

I had to write a 2000 word essay on the Simpsons when I was at uni.

"Why the Simpsons is awesome (at least in the classic era) and anyone who says it's a cartoon for kids has an IQ of 5"?

Hey, it takes some time to watch 18 seasons of the Simpsons in order to count and code any smoking references. And get paid to do it.

Reminds me of the episode where Flanders spends his time taping and watching unpopular TV programs just to find "indecent" things to complain and write about, and he catches Kent Brockman swearing...

The Simpsons may prompt kids to watch Family Guy, which in my opinion is much worse than smoking.

Agree about the last one. Imagine what would happen if most 5 year olds started watching Family Guy..

Agree about the last one. Imagine what would happen if most 5 year olds started watching Family Guy..

He'd grow up to be just as dumb as a 20 year olds that watch Family Guy?

No, I'm not sure he would survive that long.

Douchebags, TV doesnt make you smoke.

Peer pressure makes you smoke.

Douchebags, TV doesnt make you smoke.

Peer pressure makes you smoke.

True