"Thank You For Smoking" and The Ethical Issues of Selling Death

"Thank You For Smoking" raises the ethical question of whether or not it is morally wrong to work for a company whose product causes peoples deaths.

The movie follows the charismatic Nick Naylor, whose whole job is to spin the public perception of tobacco companies in a positive light. Nick's apathetic nature is shown through his use of the phrase "We all have a mortgage to pay." The satirical nature of the movie allows us as the audience to watch the toll the job takes on Nick through an entertaining, yet thought provoking manner.

"Thank You For Smoking" makes the audience think about the role of moral flexibility in many careers. It is easy to say that a person who protects tobacco companies, who sell a product that kills 480,000 people per year, must be morally corrupt. However, what if like in the movie, we talk about companies such as fast food restaurants which sell food with high levels of cholesterol which kills 4.4 million people annually.

Who is more dangerous, a tobacco spokesperson or a McDonald's cashier?

The ethical question of is it wrong to work for a company that sells a product that kills people is not black and white. I would not say that the cashier who sold the Big Mac to a man who had a heart attack was the reason for his death, so how can I say that a person who works for a tobacco company is responsible for the death caused by cigarettes.

I do not disagree that it is morally reprehensible to profit off of the death of others, but "Thank You For Smoking" does a good job at pointing out just how many companies do it. The movie brings up alcohol, firearms, automotive, and cheese businesses. However, we could also add pharmaceutical companies who may not sell products that kill the consumer, but may withhold life saving drugs from many people simply for their profit margins.

The perfect example of pharmaceutical causing death can be seen through the rising costs of insulin. As insulin prices rise, 1.5 million people die world wide due to diabetes complications

It is easy to paint the world in black and white and say that tobacco companies are morally corrupt because their product causes people to die, but that is naïve. People need money to live, and when money comes into play, moral seem to fade into the background. We see this in the movie when Sam Elliot's character accepts the bribe from the tobacco company.

"Thank You For Smoking" raises the question of whether you would be able to do the job that Nick does. Do you have the moral flexibility to work for a company that sells death? I would say yes, I could do such a morally apathetic job.

People have free will and the right to chose. I believe that people should have the right to decide whether to use a product that could kill them. On the surface it is morally wrong to sell a product that kills people, but the real world is not surface level and every one has a mortgage to pay.