Alex Geis
The public relations profession is constantly being redefined in current films and
television programs to the point that the average person has no idea what a PR agency
truly does. They have the vague idea that strategic communicators provide an unethically
tailored message and use their superior verbal skills to trick the general public. This
stereotype may be completely true from time to time, but it’s a little unfair to extrapolate
the personas of a minority group onto an entire profession. These critics cannot be entirely
to blame, as the media tends to foster this negative association with professional
communicators. On 11/11/12 at 8 p.m., I watched the film Thank You For Smoking on DVD
and was introduced to the world of a tobacco lobbyist through the eyes of Mr. Nick Naylor.
Mr. Naylor is the best at what he does and eloquently defines his position as a
lobbyist who “talks for a living.” In the opening scene of the film Naylor states that he
doesn’t have a fancy degree, he just knows how to be persuasive. If you have a negative
view of public relations to begin with, you will immediately point out that these statements
confirm that PR professionals are just hired smooth talkers because it is very easy to
misconstrue any PR statement as spin. Just because a message has been carefully crafted to
intentionally highlight certain positive attributes doesn’t immediately constitute that
message as a lie. This technique of being highly persuasive in a rationally argumentative
sense is how Nick Naylor speaks on behalf of such a universally despised organization. In
the words of Mr. Naylor, the beauty of argument is the fact that “if you argue correctly,
you’re never wrong.”
Concerning ethics, I believe that Nick Naylor handles tobacco lobbying in an
extremely rational manner and does not use fallacy to push his controversial points. Naylor
states his profession requires a “moral flexibility that goes beyond most people.” He has
Alex Geis
melded his personal standards to that of his organization’s standards but not the PR
industry’s standards because as he said, he really doesn’t have an education behind his
profession. When he speaks he is being truthful and transparent but still remains loyal to
his organization. He even brings his kid with him to his various meetings and negotiations.
In fact he exhibits many of the core values from the PRSA code of ethics including loyalty,
expertise, honesty, independence, and advocacy. He encourages a free flow of information
and believes he is serving the public interest by inspiring informed and rational decisions
from society. Even though Mr. Naylor represents an industry that essentially requires a
spin-doctor to represent them, I believe he very rational and ethical in the way he conducts
business.
The ROPES process is incorporated in a unique way for Naylor’s career. He is
exceptionally intelligent so you know he has researched every aspect of what his job
requires. He has clear objectives regarding whatever crisis arises and incorporates clear
programming to achieve those goals. He pays careful attention to the evaluations of his
organization’s programming in order to properly defend his company’s interests. The
stewardship aspect is the unique part of Naylor’s occupation because the tobacco industry
has to walk a fine line in the way they advertise to their market. They can maintain
relationships with their customers but it is much more difficult to keep these relationships
constant due to the fluctuating demographic of consumers.
Several crises occur during the film but the one I’d like to highlight is towards the
end of the film. Naylor is testifying at a congressional hearing on behalf of big tobacco
against a new regulation that will place a large “poison” label on cartons of cigarettes. He is
overwhelmingly disliked by those in attendance but never loses his composure or deviates
Alex Geis
from his stance. He never takes a reactive stance and directs the conversation in a way that
supports his position. He does not ignore the problem, he doesn’t tell misleading halftruths, over-confess, and he never lies. The tobacco industry centralizes their voice to mesh
with Naylor’s so that a single opinion represents their views. Naylor has evidently
predicted what problems and threats will occur and uses ingratiation to effectively appeal
to a public that hates him.
Nick Naylor’s methods of representation are unorthodox but his logic is effective in
the way it appeals to the rational part of his audience. His use of concrete statistics and
avoidance of argumentative fallacies make his statements appealable to even those that
hate him. The movie uses the term “spin” a little too often, but I think it captures the
misappropriation of PR professionals perfectly. In the media’s eyes Naylor is a silvertongued monster but I don’t believe he misrepresents the public relations profession. I
think he is performing his job to the best degree he can and I have to respect his loyalty to
his controversial industry. I personally would not choose to represent big tobacco but I
believe the way Nick Naylor does is about as ethical and reasonable as the circumstance
permits.