The smoking pitch
In the subject Thinking Skills, we are working with credibility criteria, specifically with vested interest. A vested interest is when someone has something to gain from benefiting one side over the other. To achieve this, someone can present one-side arguments, or select some specific evidence. Therefore they may reduce the credibility of a source. To understand this topic, our teacher showed us part of one of the episodes of the series "Mad Men" (which you can watch below). In this scene we can identify two different moments in which vested interest is used. The first moment is when Peter comes out with an idea for the next propaganda of the cigarettes company. Through his idea, he is telling one side of the story, the one which benefits the company. He compares the risk of dying in a car accident with the risk of dying with cigarettes. In this way, he explains that life is dangerous, so if you are going to die anyway, there is no reason not to enjoy a cigarette. By showi...