"Thank You for Smoking": the nature of argument and advertising ploys

Earlier this week I watched the movie “Thank You for Smoking” that follows a lobbyist for cigarette companies and gives a behind the scenes view of how public relations representatives use language and the media to sell an image to profit from the general public.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiPaCBmN6Vs

The main character in the movie has the philosophy that you can phrase any argument to make yourself right. He says “That's the beauty of argument, if you argue correctly, you're never wrong.” He is capable of manipulating the English language and turning around the words of his opponents to make the cigarette companies sound justified. He picks out flaws in the opponent’s argument that many people overlook, and he uses them to argue his point and take the heat off of his company. This shows that the art of persuasion is more apparent in our everyday lives than we realize. There are people out there who are extremely skilled with words and make anything sound enticing. This is why we as the public need to critically see through these people, view the facts, and then form our own opinions. We should not take anyone’s word for fact simply because they can creatively argue their point in the public eye.

Another aspect brought forward in this film was the advertising of products in media. In the film, the lobbyist determined that to raise cigarette sales the company had to reintegrate the sexy image of cigarettes into movies. The main character says “The message Hollywood needs to send out is 'Smoking Is Cool!'” The cigarette companies were going to help fund the movie, as long as cigarettes were associated with attractive celebrities. This indicates how susceptible the public is as an audience to indirect advertising ploys. It is necessary that the public discovers these subtle messages in order to resist being manipulated. There is a lot of behind the scenes scheming going on that people aren’t aware of. It is important to question the reasoning and motives behind everything. It is also important to question our own motives for purchasing certain items. Are we buying clothing because we like it or because the latest celebrity wore it in their movie? Are we drinking Pepsi instead of Coke because someone famous was in the commercial? As consumers we must evaluate how the media affects our choices so that we can make more informed decisions in the future.



movie quotes found at <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427944/quotes>

video found at <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiPaCBmN6Vs>