What a great title: Selling Sin. And, the book is what it promises – an in‐depth look at the way so‐called “sin products” – tobacco, alcoholic beverages, firearms, gambling and pornography – are sold.
Many people found this gem back in 1996 when the first edition was published, and they have eagerly awaited the second edition. However, those who are new to Selling Sin will be equally pleased. Because so much had changed in seven years between the two editions, the first order of business for author Kirk Davidson is to bridge that gap. He offers a preface that traces the major issues that each “sin” industry has faced since 1996.
75668.CONCATAlthough these industries offer vastly different products and services, they all operate under similar constraints. Chapter 1 lays the groundwork for the reader to understand the nature of the hostile environment in which marketing occurs. Davidson's point is well taken that the opposition does not come from the buyers and sellers but instead from other groups in society – advocacy and health organizations, churches, or government agencies – that consider the products offensive, inappropriate, or harmful for a variety of reasons. In these industries marketers not only face the usual constraints to doing business but also deal with “outright antagonism” (p. 2).
Chapters 2 through 6 provide in‐depth, historical context, with an entire chapter devoted to each industry. These foundation chapters trace major issues over time and identify structural changes within the industries, social changes that affect public acceptance and opposition, competitive shifts within the industry, modifications to the media landscape, and changes in regulation.
After establishing a solid foundation, Davidson then gives the reader an instructive look at the target marketing of sin products. Chapter 7 shows how the use of traditional marketing tactics, which seek efficiencies when communicating with a firm's best prospects, often result in public outcry in these five industries because marketers are seen as exploiting potentially vulnerable groups. Davidson then looks at six controversial examples so that marketers can learn from past mistakes: Uptown Cigarettes, Dakota Cigarettes, firearms and women, malt liquors, smokeless tobacco, and “alcopops” (fruit‐flavored, malt‐based beverages with five percent alcohol content).
Chapter 8 reveals how the product line is managed for socially unacceptable products. Given that marketers constantly face social scrutiny from advocacy groups, Davidson explores ways that marketers handle changes and innovations that avert criticism. In particular, he explains the “masquerade strategy” of pretending the product is something different from what it really is. One way is to put distance between the company and the product through the favored tactic of changing the company name (e.g. Philip Morris’ change to Altria). Davidson explores other options as well but reminds us that the public can only tolerate attempts to gain market share at the expense of competitors. It will not tolerate efforts to increase aggregate consumption.
Chapter 9 addresses promotional strategies in light of the restrictions on advertising. It focuses on ways that the industries have adapted, by shifting budgets from one medium to another, attempting to subvert the law, or taking advantage of loopholes. An example is the tobacco industry's use of billboards and banners at televised events to circumvent the ban on television advertising. The latter half of the chapter addresses message strategies. Because sin products cannot claim to be bigger, better or more efficient without drawing criticism (imagine claiming that a weapon has more firepower or that a cigarette delivers nicotine faster), promoters resort to other means that have proven equally controversial. Davidson explores problematic claims including sex, health, success, and social status.
Chapter 10 continues to examine promotion strategies by focusing upon symbols and other tools. Although it is most marketers’ dream to have a symbol associated with the product – one so successful that it becomes a recognizable part of everyday life – readers learn how this can become a rallying point for critics. Davidson explores some of the more famous symbols including the controversial Smokin’ Joe Camel, the Marlboro Man, Spuds MacKenzie and the Playboy bunny.
For marketers who feel disadvantaged by the hostile environment, the Internet offers an innovative way to level the playing field. Chapter 11 addresses the different approaches the five industries have taken to gain the best advantage. Although company web sites for manufacturers typically rely on the Internet for their public relations efforts (e.g. alcohol companies promoting responsible drinking), Davidson draws attention to the numerous other websites that promote and sell the products in a questionable manner. These include online discounters who sell tobacco at reduced prices through Native American reservations, an estimated 1,300 online gambling sites that are immensely profitable due to low overhead, and a growing number of porn sites that offer adult material in the privacy of the home or workplace.
Chapter 12 shows how pricing strategies that work for breakfast cereals and detergents, such as lowering prices to stimulate demand, inevitably result in protests against sin products. Worse, increases in prices may lead to criticism on the basis of “ill‐gotten gains” (p. 196). Davidson discusses three factors that affect pricing and interfere with the normal balance of supply and demand forces: taxes; an overall loss of legitimacy evidenced by product liability lawsuits, increased government regulation, advocacy groups, etc.; and the fact that product usage can lead to addiction. All three “put a floor under” the prices in these product categories (p. 197). Social and legal constraints on distribution strategies are also explored.
Chapter 13 focuses on the unique public affairs strategies needed for sin products. Although firms in most mainstream industries have the luxury of using public affairs programs to create goodwill, Davidson shows how marketers of sin products typically need them for damage control. He also explains how different the public affairs challenges are depending upon the industry. The firearms industry, for example, has only one public policy issue – gun control – and most individual manufacturers have been content to sit back and let the NRA “carry the ball” (p. 206). In contrast, the pornography industry's public policy agency focuses on First Amendment rights. Across industries, Davidson addresses the efforts of individual corporations and various associations.
Finally, the author offers a summation chapter that returns to the issues raised along the way and re‐examines the philosophical issue of establishing a firm's legitimacy in society. He points out that “in the long run, a company's right to continue in business is granted by society, not by its profitability” (p. 229). This is something that individuals in society sometimes forget because it is easy to fall into the trap of believing that if a product is legal, its sale and promotion are therefore ethical.
Selling Sin is not only an informative book about business practices, but it is also a thoughtful book about society. Its appeal is broad – marketers can learn from past mistakes; professors of marketing and related fields can use it as a text to generate classroom discussions; regulators and members of advocacy groups can learn ways that marketers have circumvented the law; and those simply interested in gaining knowledge of society can take away new insights.
