Rhetoric Techniques Used In Thank You For Smoking

The film Thank You for Smoking is a comedy that follows a lobbyist, Nick Naylor, for the tobacco industry. Nick Naylor is the main character who is the rhetor. This comedy takes a serious topic, and makes it more at ease through mockery. A good example of rhetoric can be found in Thank You for Smoking during a scene where Nick Naylor conveys an argument about the objection to placing a skull and crossbones label on every pack of cigarettes. Baylor makes sure to deliver this argument in front of the congressional committee lead by Senator Finistirre from Vermont. Naylor’s audience is targeted towards his son as well as the committee and members of the audience. Naylor is defending a very touchy idea with controversial evidence and support. Logos, pathos, and ethos, …show more content…
Nick Naylor’s claim focuses on the fact that warning labels should not be required to be on packs of cigarettes when people already know how dangerous it is. In connection with Naylor’s claim, Naylor’s excuse seems to be that people make their life decisions all of the time so in this case it is solely up to the buyer if they would like to purchase the potentially dangerous product or not. The point Naylor made is relatable to his entire audience. Nick Naylor uses logos in his arguments in front of the congressional committee. He makes a logical conclusion and twists it to say that if cigarettes were forced to have skull and crossbones labels on them then any potentially harmful product should be labeled with crossbones as well. These are things such as: cars, planes, and vermont cheese for all of their deadly risks. It is very logical to make note that almost every human being is aware that cigarettes can be harmful in some way to our bodies. Naylor makes a great example of this when he asks members of his audience to raise their hands if they are aware of the harms that cigarettes may cause. The most evident use of pathos is when Naylor talks about the education of the