U.S. senators criticize Golden Globes Awards e-cigarette skit with in open letter

The Examiner ^ | 01/15/2014

[SeekAndFind]

The presence of e-cigarettes and "vaping" have led to multiple conversations on whether they're really safer than the real thing, and a group of U.S. senators are none too pleased with the use of one in a skit during Sunday's Golden Globes.

One of the gags during the broadcast involved co-hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler talking about Julia Louis-Dreyfus being nominated for her roles in both the film Enough Said and the TV show Veep. After mentioning her decision to sit in the film section of the room, the camera cut away to Louis-Dreyfus, who snobbishly puffed on an e-cigarette and refused Reese Witherspoon's invitation to take a selfie with her.

While the bit went over well with the audience, on Tuesday four senators released an open letter to the producers of the NBC broadcast criticizing the "glamorization" of smoking. The senators, all Democrats, include Dick Durbin (IL), Richard Blumenthal (CT), Sherrod Brown (OH), and Edward J. Markey (MA).

“In light of studies showing that exposure to on-screen smoking is a major contributor to smoking initiation among youth, we are troubled that these images glamorize smoking and serve as celebrity endorsements that could encourage young fans to begin smoking traditional cigarettes or e-cigarettes,” the letter reads.

The letter also asked the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and NBC Universal to avoid intentionally showing e-cigarettes in future broadcasts.

[FreedomPoster]

>>Not paying a zillion dollars a pack in cigarette taxes?

>>The abject horror of that moment will never leave the senators’ nightmares!

The vaping / e-cig people are peeing in a lot of people’s Corn Flakes. They are disruptive to Big Government, Big Tobacco, and Big Pharma, all at once.

Good luck to them, I think they have a valuable, needed product, and I’m not a smoker.

[TomGuy]

I would be willing to send each of these senators a season of Mad Men just to watch their heads explode.

Be sure to include the episode with Betty Draper sitting in the doctor's exam room. Both doctor and Mrs. Draper, who was very pregnant, were smoking, as the young Draper daughter, Sally, coughed and read her book.

[SeekAndFind]

Forget the cigarettes! How dare she let her self be seen scarfing down a hot dog. How unhealthy is that???!!!! s/

Mayor Bloomberg would disapprove...

[Hot Tabasco]

Congress telling us what kind of toilets we must own and what kind of lightbulbs we have to put in our lamps and now the U.S. Senate telling us that E-cigs should not be used........

I'm ready for the revolution.........

[ErnBatavia]

Wifey and I went (painlessly, by the way) the E-route two years ago....all our docs/dentists fully approve.

[Fledermaus]

Given how state legislatures have become silly political cults also, how would going back to this practice be better?

My two stupid senators are Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker. Both would probably have been appointed by the state.

[GSWarrior]

“The great state of Vermont will not apologize for it’s cheese.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcvVhD5X3f0

[Dr. Ursus]

And a case of Camels to the troops!

[Cementjungle]

Alan Shepard performing a death-defying act of smoking a cigar.

[DBrow]

” how would going back to this practice be better?”

In the long run, the rights of the states would be better supported. I think that for a while states might send clowns, but once they see the power that they have things would change.

[null and void]

Good luck to them, I think they have a valuable, needed product, and I’m not a smoker.

Me too!

[Fledermaus]

If anything maybe they could stop these silly omnibus spending bills with pork, pork and more pork.

I’m just worried they’ll use that power to carve out more stuff for their states.

Frankly I’m at the throw up my hands point.

[Hildy]

She’s not a bad actress and she works hard considering she comes from one of the more wealthier families in America.