Tobacco industry wants to snuff out role in films: cigarette makers make appeal in trade ads.

Stomp that butt out, Hollywood.

That's the message Philip Morris USA is sending to the entertainment industry in ads taken out by the tobacco company encouraging the elimination of smoking scenes in movies.

The ads appeared in Variety and The Hollywood Reporter in November and are scheduled to run through March.

The ads were the result of a series of meetings between Philip Morris--the nation's largest cigarette maker--and entertainment trade organizations, health advocacy organizations, and the guilds representing entertainment workers, said David Sutton, a spokesman for Philip Morris USA.

"We are appealing to and encouraging the entertainment industry to eliminate depiction of our brands in their work," Sutton said.

Philip Morris makes Marlboro, Virginia Slims, Merit, Parliament, and Benson & Hedges brand cigarettes.

One ad shows a film crew at work beneath which is written "Please don't give our cigarette brands a part in any movie." The copy also references three studies linking smoking in movies and an increased risk of youth starting to smoke.

The second ad shows a group of boys in a movie theater with copy stating "Movies should inspire kids to be heroes. Not smokers." The copy tells filmmakers they have the power to prevent youth smoking by "losing one little prop" and again cites the youth smoking studies.

Philip Morris USA has refused product placement of its brands in movies since 1990. The company began its Youth Smoking Prevention program in 1998.

Philip Morris USA believes running ads in trade publications to be the most effective way to get its message across and at the same time gear them toward decision makers in the entertainment industry, Sutton said.

With no mixed message in the copy of the ad featuring the boys in the movie theater, Philip Morris deserves some credit for taking a stand on eliminating smoking in movies, said Larry Deutchman, executive vice president of marketing and industry relations in the Burbank office of the Entertainment Industries Council, Inc.

What remains unclear is the company's primary motive although he suspects self-protection may be part of it, Deutchman said.

"Regardless of that motive the approach they've taken in that ad clearly is directed at a goal I think anybody in the smoking prevention and health communities would like to see," Deutchman said.

The not for profit EIC works with the entertainment industry to promote accurate depictions of health and social issues in films, television shows, music videos and comic books.

The council wants the entertainment industry to think through the creative process and consider alternative props or methods as replacements for unhealthy smoking material.

"To me there are a lot more creative options to convey the same kind of information about a character by doing other things that are unique and less overdone," Deutchman said.

While Deutchman points out the clear message of eliminating all smoking in movies from the one ad, the other ad picturing the film crew at work seems more geared on reducing Philip Morris brand exposure in films.

But elimination of brand exposure is a goal the council supports because that is what gets people to start smoking in the first place, Deutchman said.

"Maybe with less brand exposure they won't be thinking about the overall product either," Deutchman said.

From Philip Morris USA's perspective the ads make good business sense as reminders of the company's policy prohibiting product placement in movie and its belief children should not smoke.

"If there is a significant body of research data that says there is a relationship between the appearance in entertainment (and youth smoking)] we would ask the industry to work with us to reduce that or eliminate that, specifically about our brands but also smoking scenes in general directed at youth," Sutton said.

National Realty Site

San Fernando Valley real estate broker Daniel Nussbaum launched in November a new website TheUSARealty.com, a national network of independent brokers.

The Calahasas-based site currently has real estate brokers from 22 states offering their services.

"I wanted to fly under the radar and build up the network and then announce it," said Nussbaum, a retired dentist and the company's chief executive officer.

TheUSARealty.com site differs from other real estate websites, such as Realtor.com, operated by Westlake Village-based Move, Inc., in that it represents the buyer and not the seller.

A pre-screened professional can be contacted through the site that in turn sets up appointments to see homes, negotiates a deal and handles the closing, Nussbaum said.

A broker or agent pays no fee to be part of the website's network but they are asked to pay a referral fee after a sale closes, Nussbaum said.

The site also generates revenues through advertising and from a partnership with a Beverly Hills-based mortgage lender, Nussbaum said.

Tech industry veteran James Spence was brought on as chief operating officer. Spence served as president of W3PR, an Internet consulting company and as vice president of NetCount/Price Waterhouse, a company that developed software to track and report Internet advertising activity.

It was important to have someone involved with TheUSARealty.com site with tech experience, Nussbaum said.

"He has the ability to take my ideas and turn them into reality," Nussbaum said.

The Internet has changed how people buy or sell real estate in that it helps educate the consumer, streamlines the process and makes communications better and faster.

The Web also provides immediate information on available property, Nussbaum said.

"In the old days nobody got to see what was for sale until you went to a real estate broker's office," Nussbaum said.

Staff Reporter Mark R. Madler can be reached at [phone] or at [e-mail].