What does tobacco have to do with glamour and movies? Seventy-seven percent of PG-13 films contain tobacco and in the USA alone, 1,070 young people (ages 12-17) start smoking each day because of what they see in films.
The Hackademy Awards is a Thumbs Up! Thumbs Down! (TUTD) youth advocacy event that educates people - especially youth and young adults - about the impact of tobacco use and smoking in movies and prevents them from picking up a deadly habit.
Each year, approximately 300 movies are reviewed and rated for their tobacco content and perceived messages by our youth reviewers. Each February, the Hackademy, which is made up of TUTD volunteers, meets to discuss and choose the award recipients for the following categories:
Thumbs Up! Movie
Thumbs Down! Movie
Thumbs Up! Actor
Thumbs Up! Actress
Thumbs Down! Actor
Thumbs Down! Actress
There is also a People's Choice Award for Thumbs Up! and Thumbs Down! movie of the year, which gives the public a chance to share their opinion by voting online!
The award recipients are then announced at a Hollywood-style red carpet event. Our TUTD volunteers arrive in a limousine, walk the red carpet, sign autographs and smile for paparazzi before the awards ceremony. The goal of this event is to counter the positive influences of tobacco in movies.
2008 Hackademy Awards Red Carpet Event
The 2008 Hackademy Awards was a great success! On February 13, more than 200 guests watched our youth stars from our Thumbs Up! Thumbs Down! Program arrive in a limo, walk the red carpet, pose for paparazzi, sign autographs and hand out this year's Hackademy Awards, “honoring” the films and actors that portrayed tobacco well and not so well in 2007.
