Selling sin

Marketing a cigarette, a drink, a casino game, adult material or a gun is harder than selling most goods, because the public climate around these items is often openly hostile. D. Kirk Davidson examines the particular obstacles this creates for those who sell them, looking at all five categories side by side to show how their situations overlap and differ.

The book is written for people working in marketing, advertising and sales, as well as for scholars and students of those fields. It explains why these products draw opposition, how companies respond to it, and which marketing choices tend to draw the most public criticism. Each product category gets its own treatment, yet the common thread is a period of intense controversy, not any fault of the buyers. Customers and sellers both take part in these exchanges willingly. The pressure comes from advocacy groups that grow large enough to change how normal marketing is carried out. The products themselves are legal, though tightly regulated, and are labeled "socially unacceptable" by critics. Beyond the usual risks of competition, shifting economies and changing consumer habits, marketers here must design special tactics to counter organized opposition.

The lessons extend beyond these five industries. Any marketer facing an unfriendly environment for a product or service can learn from the strategies described here, which add to our wider understanding of how marketing works.