It is like nothing you have ever heard about the smoking issue. That's a promise!
Fireworks and Insight on the Dr. Stan Frager Show!
What does smoking have to do with President Obama, Britney Spears and the Emmy-Award-winning "Mad Men?" Has smoking been reduced only to be overtaken by prescription drugs like Ridalin and Prozac - in effect, recasting smoking as a little understood form of self-medication. These were some of the issues discussed by "Cigarette Seduction" author, Alan Brody on the Dr. Stan Frager show on WGTK on Sunday night in the heart of tobacco country, Louisville, Kentucky.
"Mad Men" may sparkle with retro sexism and non-PC joie de vivre but it is also about a group of execs who believed they knew something about Americans that few others did. Thanks to a new kind of "motivational research" chronicled in Vance Packard's "Hidden Persuaders" that revolutionized Madison Ave. in the 50's and 60's they understood the psychological reasons why people really bought products. To most of their clients, it was a revelation.
With cigarettes, marketers understood it to be something we do at the initiation period of our lives and it holds a powerful, if little understood force over the lives of smokers. Each brand has a specific meaning that was researched and developed by psychoanalytically trained market researchers beginning in 1922, when American Tobacco hired America's first Freudian, A.A. Brill to work on the Lucky Strike brand. As it happened, their PR man, Edward Bernays, was also Freud's American nephew.
The not-fully convinced Dr. Frager (himself a psychologist) bridled at Mr. Brody's comment that Camel smokers usually have "sexual issues." Dr. Frager even pointed out that "Freud said sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."
Brody replied: "Freud was a cigar smoker who died of throat cancer. He was in denial."
Brody described how Marlboro was developed from the ashes, as it were, of what was once an exclusive woman's brand. In its new form, when it was reintroduced in the early 50's, its package had been developed to look like a medal, replete with the legend: "Veni. Vidi. Vici." (I came. I saw. I conquered.)
This implies Marlboro smokers have a militaristic or command-and-control issue. In the case of President Obama, it probably serves as part of his military empowerment, making it unlikely that he quit as long as he in charge of a war and commands generals. Britney Spears, who's dancing is highly energetic and meticulously rehearsed was seen smoking this brand just before her famous breakdown, suggesting that it was a form of rebellion against the regimentation in her performance schedule. She has not been seen with a cigarette lately and her career appears back on track.
Most importantly, knowing their brand helps people unravel their true reasons for smoking and leads to the best way to quit for good. Using the book's "Inner Quitting" method Brody recommends starting with the "unsmoking" technique - rolling back the years to that time in life when they started. This enables smokers to tackle the real challenge of quitting, which is not the addiction (that can be overcome in 3 days and best done when you have flu or a bad cold), but the mental part. This is the true abyss that smokers fear.
By facing the issue that lead them to smoking (we may start smoking with our friends but we become addicted and bond for our own personal reasons) "Inner Quitting" shows how to use the newfound knowledge to overcome smoking for good. This is no patch - although that can help - but it is essentially borrowing the technique those fortunate people you probably know who claim they were able to spontaneously quit. While they were just lucky, everyone else has to work at it and "Cigarette Seduction" explains how.
In closing, Mr. Brody talked briefly about the new Electronic Cigarettes and how they are likely to comprise as much as 50% of the market within 5 years.
To learn more about "Cigarette Seduction," listen to Mr. Brody's interview or view his videos, visit www.cigseduciton.com
To request a review copy please contact Ellen Schaeffer at ViziPress (212) 624-9110 or ellens@vizipress.com
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