Public Relations In The Film Thank You For Smoking

More often than not, there is a conceptualization that Public Relations is synonymous to Marketing or the other way around. Although most companies use both hand in hand towards progress, some are in more need of one over the other. The most basic difference of public relations (PR) and marketing is the other is more profit-oriented while the other is, in most senses, not. Though the strategies and tactics could be used for both sides, the goal is very much different. Marketing sells the product (“Marketing”, n.d.) while PR sells the company (“Introduction to Public Relations”, n.d.). Marketing cares more about financial success while PR is more concerned on the positive image. In the film “Thank You For Smoking”, it is evident that the companies comprising Big …show more content…
One theme is the evident battle of his moral values against the values of his job position. Behind all the talking and professionalism, Nick Naylor is a father. As father of a child product of a broken home, he tries his best to maintain an a good image for his son to follow. But it is very crucial given his position. He says that he loves his job because representing Big Tobacco is challenging and the challenge is great for his career but the underlying connotations include a huge impact of his job to his son. As an individual, how can he confidently say that smoking is not dangerous when his doctor clearly stated that one stick would be the end of him? It is somehow shown that Nick Naylor is aware of the negative effects of smoking but he deliberately ignores his own judgments for he upholds the values of his organization. As a human being, how can he glorify cigarettes and look at the ill people who blames smoking for their sickness without compassion? Being the PR practitioner of crucial companies means that you have to bury your personal views just to do your job