Vicente Aravena

Matt Merkel
October 8, 2015

Thank You for Smoking

Influence (Cognitive Dissonance Theory)

In the film Thank You for Smoking lobbyist and Big Tobaccos chief spokesman, Nick Naylor,
finds himself torn between his family and his career. Naylor struggles between being a role model
for his son Joey while promoting cigarettes for the tobacco industry. Meanwhile, smoking-related
deaths are at an all time high and Vermont Senator Ortolan Finistirre is pushing for mandatory
poison labeling of tobacco products. Nick Naylor is a perfect example of the Cognitive
Dissonance theory. Leon Festingers theory on Cognitive Dissonance suggests that when one
holds two or more contradictory beliefs they feel a discomfort, and how humans strive for
internal consistency. An individual who experiences inconsistency (dissonance) tends to become
psychologically uncomfortable, and is motivated to try to reduce this dissonance. (Festinger) In
Nicks case, being a good role model to his curious son, promoting tobacco, and fighting the
senator for the labeling of tobacco products are all becoming psychologically uncomfortable,
which makes him an extremely good communicator with every situation that is thrown at him.
The Cognitive Dissonance Theory has three key points: Forced compliance behavior,
decision-making, and effort. All three of these key points are illustrated throughout Thank You for
Smoking. The film does a great job of accurately representing the key points of the theory. For
example, the boss sends Nick to deliver a suitcase which is stashed with cash to an unknown
receiver, as soon as Nick arrives to his destination a grungy old man barges out of the front door
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with a shotgun pointed right at Nicks head. Nick maintains calm and the two end up going
inside and talking about why he was there and why he had a suitcase full of money. This is the
first key point; forced compliance, Nick was forced into this situation because he thought he was
helping out his boss when, in fact, he was there to bribe The Marlboro Man to keep his mouth
shut after the tobacco companies refused to take accountability for his health concerns. Nick does
a lot of decision making throughout the film as well, which is another key point in the cognitive
dissonance theory. A prime example of this is when Nick is testifying against the hazard labeling
of tobacco products, Vermont Senator Ortolan Finistirre asks Nick:
When your son turns 18, will you let him smoke? Nick is now faced with the problem of
being called a hypocrite if he says no, or, being seen as an enemy by the majority of the country
if he says yes. After weighing out the pros and cons he says:
If he really wants to smoke when he turns 18, Ill buy him his first pack. In the end, Nick
got away with it because he looked like a good person in front of his son and the poison labeling
never happened. The final point of emphasis that is in this film is effort. For example, when
someone spends years of effort into achieving something turns out to be a bust, they try to
convince themselves that they didn't really spend years of effort, or that the effort was really quite
enjoyable, or that it wasn't really a lot of effort. The exact opposite thing happened to Nick, after
the testimony was over and the poison labeling of tobacco never happened he didn't really take it
as an achievement, he didn't give himself enough credit although he jumped through hoops of
fire to get there.
Thank You for Smoking addresses these key point in a very blunt way. For example, When
Nick is forced into the situation with The Marlboro man his instincts instantly kicked in. He had
no idea what he was getting himself into beforehand (forced) but when the problem arises he

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remains calm (compliance) and gets the Marlboro Man to put down his shotgun. That is a nobrainer, the director wanted to have show the audience exactly what it would be like to be thrown
into that situation. In the second example above, Nick has to make the decision of being an
honest person to his son or being hated by the majority of the population. This example is also
shown in a blunt way, after the Senator asks Nick the question about if he would let Joey smoke
when he turned 18, the camera instantly zooms in on his face and the music get a little slower, his
facial expression is concentrated, and it seems like everything is zoned out besides his thoughts.
This is the second key point: Decision-making demonstrated beautifully. The third and final key
point of the Cognitive Dissonance Theory is Effort. Unlike the other two key points, this one
wasn't right there in front of your eyes, you had to be paying close attention from the beginning.
Once everything was settled after the testimony Nick failed to give himself enough credit for
making that happen. He was too focused on the bigger picture to realize how much effort he was
putting into it, but sub-consciously he was putting in a lot of effort. Altogether, the key points
were portrayed very well by the film.
In the film Thank You for Smoking lobbyist and Big Tobacco spokesman Nick Naylor is
becoming psychologically uncomfortable because he is split between being the face of a company
that kills 11,000 thousand people per day and being a good roll model for his son Joey. The
theory that suggests feeling discomforted by holding on to two or more contradicting beliefs is
called the Cognitive Dissonance Theory, the discomfort motivates the individual into acting fast
and making things happen for the better or worse. Throughout the film Naylor is forced to
comply in situations where he doesn't belong and make executive decisions on short-notice, all
while making it look effortless and being a good influence on Joey. Overall, the film did a brilliant
job of connecting the theory to the plot line.

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