Smoking will no longer be depicted in Disney-branded movies and will be discouraged in films bearing Disney's Touchstone and Miramax brands, the company has announced.

Reuters reported July 25 that Disney CEO Robert Iger also said that the company would place antismoking public-service announcements on DVDs of all future films where smoking is shown and call on theaters to show such PSAs before screening movies with smoking scenes.

Iger announced the moves in a letter to Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass), whose committee recently held hearings on the issue of movie smoking and children's health. Markey called Disney's decision "groundbreaking," and the company also won praise from the American Legacy Foundation despite some concerns about the "ambiguity" of the policy regarding Miramax and Touchstone.

Iger stressed that the policy only applies to smoking and should not be viewed as a precedent for other issues.