Watch the following BBC documentary, which first aired in 1979.
Death of the West, dailymotion, Foxeema TV 2, 2015
This documentary featured gut-wrenching interviews with American cowboys from Montana and other Western states who were dying of lung cancer, emphysema, and heart disease. Their doctors were interviewed and hypothesized smoking was the cause of these men’s illnesses. The documentary also shows interviews with executives from Phillip Morris, the manufacturer of Marlboro cigarettes, which used the “Marlboro Man,” a handsome, rugged, healthy, independent-minded cowboy, on all their advertising. The executives offered reasons why we should not believe cigarettes were causally connected to these diseases.
Philip Morris sued the BBC. The documentary was suppressed as part of the court settlement. In the documentary, you will see dominance structuring in action. Even the independent clinical psychologist who is interviewed suggests the Phillip Morris executives needed to think of themselves as people doing worthy labor, not as ruthless purveyors of disease and death . . . and this insight came several years before the initial research on dominance structuring was published.
After watching the documentary, map the arguments made by the Phillip Morris executives who were in favor of smoking and opposed to those who would argue smoking is dangerous.
Then, write a paragraph of 150 words detailing the dominance structuring demonstrated by Phillip Morris.
