'Land of the Lost' Bashed for Promoting Smoking

Coming off a bad year at the box office and an executive suite shake-up that has several head honchos heading for the unemployment line, Universal Studios has just received more bad news: Its bomb 'Land of the Lost' has been singled out as the worst offender in the depiction of smoking in mass-appeal summer films.

According to the New York Times, the American Medical Association Alliance, a volunteer arm of the powerful health organization that focuses on family issues, released its smoking scorecard and cited "Land of the Lost" as the No. 1 offender.

The alliance said it counted 18 shots of Will Ferrell smoking a pipe, resulting in about 124 million tobacco impressions. (The group generally calculates an "impression" by multiplying the number of incidences by the film's total gross, then dividing by the average ticket price.)

"'Land of the Lost' wasn't just a flop at the box office, it was also a real loser for public health," said Nancy Kyler, president of the AMAA. The group did not name the second- and third-place offenders.

A Universal spokeswoman declined comment.

According to the Times, however, the studio's image hasn't all gone up in smoke. The AMAA's efforts to shame the worst offender by posting billboards around Los Angeles were nixed when billboard vendors refused to run the ad.