Ethics Reflection

 

 Thank You for Smoking

Use JUSTWATCH.COM or your preferred streaming service to watch the 2005 movie "Thank You for Smoking."

Now that you've learned about the legal landscape of advertising, PR and marketing, let's add a layer of ethics and morals to the mix. There is an old saying that applies here: Just because it's legal doesn't make it right.

Write a 500-word reflection essay using the movie as a jumping off point -- a Word doc, 12-pt. Times New Roman, double-spaced, single-sided.  

Post a Word doc to Blackboard discussion thread by OCT. 6. Format: Times New Roman, 12 pts., double-spaced, single-sided.

Go beyond tobacco and consider all forms of vice advertising -- alcohol, guns, gambling, etc. Bolster your opinions with evidence and links. For example, if you assert that vaping is a growing problem for teens, cite an article or study to support your statement. Yes, we want to hear your personal point of view, but remember: Evidence makes every argument more persuasive. 

You could even start with a Google search: "vice advertising" or "vice advertising" and "first amendment"

Questions & Considerations to Spark Reflection

• Could you do Nick Naylor's job? What if Reynolds Tobacco started you off at $100,000 a year? $200,000 a year? Would that make a difference?

• A former stratcom student I know did a summer internship at RJ Reynolds Tobacco, as seen in the movie, and works there full-time right now. Great job, great benefits. She doesn't work in the regular cigarette division. She works on the marketing team for RJR's Vuse vape product line. Would that make a difference to you? Why or why not? 

• Many aspects of the movie were based on real events. For example, some people really did advocate editing old movies, even classics with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, to remove cigarettes. Would you support that idea? Why or why not?

• What did you think about the newspaper reporter? She seemed passionate in her crusade to expose how the tobacco industry intentionally tries to hide how harmful its products are. Her story did in fact reveal actual facts about how the industry operates behind the scenes. Was she right to do what she did? Did her methods justify the ends?

• If all these vice products like cigarettes and alcohol have been proven, over and over again, to be bad for Americans' health, why doesn't the federal government just outlaw all advertising for these products? Would you be in favor of that? Why or why not? Which considerations would weigh heavier for you, legal ones or ethical ones?

• What about advertising for marijuana? Marijuana is still on the federal government's list of illegal drugs. If that's so, then what would be the legal status of marketing marijuana products? In states like Colorado, advertising for marijuana dispensaries is commonplace. How can that be? Should it be? What should we do about advertising that originates in a state like Colorado, where marijuana is legal under state law, that appears on Internet? It can be seen easily in states like North Carolina, where marijuana is not legal. Should those advertisers be punished in some way for violating North Carolina state law?