Based on the novel of the same name by Christopher Buckley, published in 1994, it tells the story of Nick Naylor, a tobacco lobbyist during the 1990s.

Naylor is the chief spokesman for the Academy of Tobacco Studies, a tobacco industry lobbying firm that promotes the benefits of cigarettes. He utilizes high-profile media events including appearances on television shows you will recognise and an intentionally provocative rhetoric in order to highlight what his clients view as the unfair crusade against tobacco and nicotine products.

The political satire is heightened by Naylor’s informal association with lobbyists from other industries that are subjected to routine vilification in the media such as Polly Bailey, a lobbyist for the alcoholic drinks industry and Bobby Jay Bliss, who represents the firearms industry. They all get together as the M.O.D. Squad, a reference to the title of a police drama, although in this case, “MOD” stands for “Merchants Of Death.”

A pivotal point in the plot occurs when Naylor is kidnapped by a clandestine group who attempt to kill him by covering him with nicotine patches. The search for the perpetrators of the crime leads to some surprising results.

While the characters in the movie are essentially the same, the plot differs in some significant ways. Most noticeably, Naylor’s relationship with his son is given a more prominent role, and the kidnapping conspiracy is downplayed.

The title is based of course on the popular saying “Thank You for Not Smoking,” and the cover of the DVD case is modelled on a cigarette packet.

Whatever you think of the tobacco industry, “merchants of death”  or an industry carrying out a perfectly legal trade that provides significant revenue to the exchequer and employs tens of thousands of people, this film and the book is both very funny and poses some good philosophical and thought provoking questions on many aspects of public relations.

How do you answer the difficult questions and what do you do when there is a powerful lobby against what you doing eg coal fired power stations, gas guzzling cars etc!   

Should be compulsory reading and watching for all public relations executives!

How do you define leisure and visitor attraction marketing? The subject covers many sectors of course including:

travel and tourism

museums

theme parks

historic houses and stately homes

parks and landscapes

hotels and resorts

and many others.

Many disciplines are involved including:

Strategic business strategy and planning

Reviewing business options; evaluating and determining the optimum strategies; financial and business feasibility evaluation

Marketing

Strategy, planning, demand forecasting, branding, corporate identity, promotional programmes, audience development, visitor strategy and segmentation

Marketing research

Quantitative research including “on street” and CATI (Computer Aided Telephone Interviewing); Qualitative research including focus groups and workshops, depth interviews, exit interviews and mystery shopping/accompanied shops

Operational

Performance reviews including evaluation of specific or overall business operational areas; efficiency studies; cost reduction programmes; organisational structures.  Benchmarking to determine best practice; quality, introduction and implementation of management systems.

Funding

Fundraising, fundraising strategy and bid writing for such organisations as the Heritage Lottery Fund and charitable trusts

Interpretation, Exhibition Planning, Collections Management

Concept and storyline development, research, copywriting, design, oral history, access audits, documentation and database systems, conservation, intellectual property income generation

For more information and help on all these aspects of marketing and management consultancy and business development for the leisure, tourism, museums, heritage, visitor attraction, hotels and resorts sector the web site at  www.attractmarketing.co.uk/ has articles and more information on this important industry.

Development and Marketing of Heritage Tourism Products

The range of workshops/seminars include the following topics

What is Heritage Tourism?

Topic 1: Basic Concepts - Setting the Scene

Topic 2: Audience Development – what is it and who will come?

Topic 3: Interpretation - developing themes and story lines

Topic 4: Access for all - physical and intellectual

Best Practice in Heritage Tourism

Topic 5: Collections & Conservation ManagementPlans

Topic 6: Heritage Learning

Topic 7: Feasibility Studies - key elements

Topic 8: Applying the theory - Case Studies

Visitor Issues

Topic 1: Creating an Audience Development Plan

Topic 2: Operating the Heritage Attraction

Topic 3: Creating a Learning and Access Plan

Topic 4: The Marketing Campaign Plan

Case Study based on a visit to a local attraction - Making it better

Topic 5: Analysing the problem - Writing the brief

Topic 6: Developing a new offer

Topic 7: Making it work

Topic 8: Launching the revamped attraction

For further information including availability and fees contact Nick Booker - on 01926 864900 or nick@attractmarketing.co.uk