When Thank You for Smoking, a comical look at the public relation efforts of the cigarette industry in the 1980s and 1990s, opened, the whole staff of the American Council on Science and Health went to see it -- and today it's out on DVD.
The movie, based on satirist Christopher Buckley's book by the same name, takes us inside the world of Washington lobbyists and gives us a close-up view of how the cigarette trade association used the media to convey the industry party line: cigarettes don't threaten health and, even if they do, it's all about individual choices and freedom. The ACSH staff got a lot of laughs over the meetings in the film of the so-called MOD-squad -- lobbyists from the cigarette, alcohol, and firearms industries who hang out together as the "Merchants of Death." The three even fight over which of their industries killed more Americans. The movie's hero, Nick Naylor from a group resembling the real-life Tobacco Institute, always wins that competition hands down: four hundred thousand dead Americans per year.
We laughed as slick Nick appeared on talkshows and before Congress, glibly arguing that cigarettes were no more harmful than butter, milk, or a glass of wine. We pondered how the media welcomed Nick and his spin -- and why they rushed to get his views on the air to "balance" those in the medical profession who maintain cigarettes are deadly.
It was a fun movie (not as good as the book, but, as they say, movies are "a different medium"). The laughs aside, though, we cannot forget that the spin portrayed in Thank You actually occurred in real life -- especially from 1954 (when the Tobacco Institute was established -- and the industry argued there was "no proof" smoking was hazardous to health) to the mid-90s, when the CEOs of the companies manufacturing the leading cause of premature death in America stood before Congress, arms raised in oath, swearing that they did not know of evidence that smoking killed or was addictive. The real-life story is not funny. Those forms of "spin" killed millions of Americans.
As I watched the tobacco apologist Nick Naylor do his spin on TV shows with health professionals -- with his laughs, jokes, and denials about the dangers of smoking -- I could not forget that in the 80s I regularly debated Nick's real-life counterpart, a guy named Tom Howard. This real-life Nick showed up everywhere: in print, radio, and TV shows. The Tobacco Institute featured Mr. Howard in magazine and newspaper ads that stated: "There's more than one side to every issue. Including those involving cigarettes. That's Tom Howard's job. Giving straight answers to tough questions about cigarette -- in person or on the phone." The ad gave a phone number where you could ask Mr. Howard questions. Every time the ad ran, I called dozens of times, but, funny, he would never answer the phone and he never returned the messages I left on his answering machine.
I can recall being on Merv Griffin's show in the mid-80s with Mr. Howard, who, as I addressed the health dangers of smoking, tried to attack me by saying, "Dr. Whelan is the lady who claims sex causes cancer." That got a good laugh out of the audience -- and that is what Howard, like Nick, wanted. Of course, I was able to work in an epidemiological rejoinder about multiple sexual partners as a risk factor for cervical cancer, and "Nick" shrunk back in his chair. Turns out that was the real "Nick's" last TV appearance with me. I never saw him again. A 1983 tobacco industry memo (which became public in the course of litigation against the industry) might explain why: the memo, commenting on the Merv Griffin exchange, noted "Howard was overmatched...Elizabeth Whelan presented (herself) as much more credible...Whelan seemed to be very forceful and persuasive on the issues. She dismissed much of Howard's discussion...Howard handled the adversity fairly well...however it would have been extremely difficult for him to compete...along the lines of credibility."
Pick up Thank You for Smoking and feel proud that we've made progress in the past twenty-five years in advancing knowledge about the dangers of smoking -- to the point where a parody of the cigarette industry may become a best-selling movie.
Dr. Elizabeth M. Whelan is president of the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH.org, HealthFactsAndFears.com).
See also: ACSH's book Cigarettes: What the Warning Label Doesn't Tell You.
