Disney has announced a plan to become the first Hollywood studio to eliminate cigarette smoking in its movies. The announcement was made via a letter written on Disney letterhead to U.S. Congressman Edward Markey of Massachusetts, who serves as chairman of the House subcommittee on telecommunications and the internet. Read the letter here.

In the letter, Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger insisted that smoking in Disney-branded films would be “non-existent” in the future.

Commentary: Before everyone raises Disney on some throne, a dose of skepticism may be in order, as smoking has never been so rife as in such movies as The Princess Diaries, the Shaggy Dog, and the Santa Clause. Furthermore, Iger makes no commitments regarding all the other titles and studios under Disney’s control, such as Miramax and Touchstone. And finally, the timing of this note is a little suspicious as it came just weeks after the Motion Picture Association of America, responsible for the film ratings system, said it would consider smoking alongside other factors, such as violence or sexual content, when rating a film.

So, while we like Disney overall, Iger might have been better off not trumpeting Disney’s position through letters and media interviews.

Meanwhile, poor Hallmark studios (which does make movies for older audiences) hopped on the bandwagon just two days after Disney’s letter… and got ZERO press for it.

We now know who has a better PR firm. :)