Don Draper's 'Why I'm quitting Tobacco.' A Rhetorical Analysis

Please enjoy my rhetorical analysis of Don Draper's New York Times rant titled "Why I'm quitting Tobacco." Excuse background details about who Draper is and what the show is about, as this was written for a general audience. I assume if you're willing to read a blog about Mad Men, you know a little bit about the show already.  

Why I’m Quitting Tobacco: A Rhetorical Analysis

            Fictional advertising executive Don Draper (2010) is a symbolic representation of a Madison Avenue businessman in the 1960’s, in AMC’s Mad Men.  Draper is a suave creative writer who constructs advertising campaigns for major businesses such as Mohawk Airlines, Utz potato chips, and Chevrolet.  However Draper is most famous for his work with tobacco power-house, Lucky Strike cigarettes.  Draper created the catch-phrase, “It’s Toasted” for Lucky Strike in order to distract the general public from health concerns in tobacco.  Lucky Strike became the central focus for Drapers ad firm consisting of about 35 percent of the total income.  When Lucky Strike decided to move their business elsewhere, it left Draper and his firm at risk of bankruptcy.  Draper responded with a full-page New York Times rant called “Why I’m Quitting Tobacco”, slamming his competitors and past client.  “For over 25 years we devoted ourselves to peddling a product for which good work is irrelevant, because people can’t stop themselves from buying it.”(2010)  Draper explains that for most of his professional career, he enjoyed the plentiful money gained from tobacco.  This strategy helps advance his credibility because it shows his moral accountability and a change of heart.  Draper recognizes the ethically questionable nature of tobacco, and takes a stand against it in the NY Times.  Draper effectively authenticates his advertising practice by publicly criticizing Lucky Strike cigarettes and connecting the toxicity of their business to the toxicity of their product.

            The main reason Draper’s piece is so effective is because advertising is notorious for its low code of ethics yet Draper establishes an ethos based argument for his business reasoning.  “…when Lucky Strike moved their business elsewhere, I realized, here was my chance to be someone who could sleep at night, because I know what I’m selling doesn’t kill my customers.” (2010)  It’s refreshing to hear an advertising executive talk about applied ethics in the workplace, because his business is commonly known as indecent.    This shows that while he may not have chosen to lose their business, he’s seizing the opportunity by informing others of the corrupt nature of the tobacco industry.  Draper later lists his competitors that still do work for major tobacco clients, setting his agency apart from others by implying that his agency cares about its customers.  For a guy who has certainly danced in ethical gray areas before, Draper publicly commits to “no longer take tobacco accounts,” (2010) giving his business an ethical stamp of legitimacy.   

Draper says that tobacco is “A product that never improves, that causes illness, and makes people unhappy.  But there was money in it. A lot of money. In fact, our entire business depended on it. We knew it wasn’t good for us, but we couldn’t stop.”  (2010) Draper clearly alludes to the idea that Lucky Strike’s business was just like their product; addictive.  With Lucky Strike comprising an unhealthy majority of the firm’s business, it made the firm’s stability very weak, and completely dependent on cigarettes.  Much like cigarette addiction, they knew it wasn’t good for them, but they couldn’t stop themselves.  This appeal is effective because it illustrates the same abusive behavior tobacco takes on its business victims as well as its consumers.  This allusion seems obvious, but one that isn’t stated often from a firsthand account.  By comparing a corrupt business to a corrupt product, Draper realizes his NY Times audience will much more easily jump on his side.  He suggests that his ad firm is better than his competitors because it has a higher standard than the competitors.

When writing the column, Draper was frustrated and desperate for public exposure in order to gain new ad accounts for his business.  But instead of seeming desperate by asking for clients, he threw away new potential clients by telling the world he would no longer work with tobacco companies.  While this seems counterintuitive, Draper assumed that his ethically driven firm would make the biggest splash for new business, and he was correct.  In the following episode of the show, Draper had a meeting with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to construct a campaign to help stop children from smoking.  This desperation move proved to be a shining moment in Draper’s career. 

Although it was technically a paid advertisement placed in the paper, this column is a prime example of effective public relations.  Advertising and public relations (PR) often go hand-in-hand however there are some important distinctions that separate the two.  In general, advertising is promotion for a product while PR is promotion for a business.  Advertising is paid media while PR is earned media.  Advertising’s main goal is selling products while PR’s main goal is proving legitimacy to the public. Public Relations not only connects with the public, but strives to form relationships with new potential business connections.  While Draper paid to have this column placed in the Times and he would call himself an ad-man, this column is all about public relations.  He is attempting to relate to the common-man who reads the New York Times.  Draper is hoping to make a big enough splash to form new relationships with ethically conscience businesses.   He sets his firm apart from others by spinning their recent loss of Lucky Strike into a gain by becoming the heroes of ethics in advertising. 

            Draper’s refreshingly ethical advertisement effectively and creatively illustrates his business legitimacy.  His passionate attack on the tobacco industry is an indisputable argument that purposely pissed off his ex-client, Lucky Strike.  Not only did Draper separate himself from the grueling business of tobacco, but he created an anti-tobacco bandwagon which he hopes other businesses and organizations will jump on with his firm.  This strategic communication piece is Don Draper’s exemplary work in engaging public interest toward a cause. 

Work Cited:

Weiner, M., Hamm, J. (2010).  Season 4, Episode 12, “Blowing Smoke”.  Weiner, M., Mad Men. New York, NY. Retrieved from: http://madmen.wikia.com/wiki/%22Why_I'm_Quitting_Tobacco%22