Smoke Screens?

Watching the new BBC 4 drama, The Mad Men, which began last Sunday, I think this brilliant series will do a huge amount to promote cigarette smoking.  Every person in every scene, including a gynaecologist, is fagging it .  I know it’s the 1960’s and authenticity is important, but I get the feeling that one of the big tobacco companies might have paid for this critically acclaimed series’ development. It’s the holy grail for most of the tobacco business to make smoking hip again, and the mood and subject matter of Mad Men and its prime time smoking is a gift to all those giants.  I suspect it is actually a coincidence but my cynicism tells me otherwise.