They say that things come in threes.  Good things. Bad things. Buses. And in my case, the recurrent theme is Lobbyists.

Over the Christmas break, I watched the brilliant documentary Food Inc. , which I simply must recommend – eye-opening, shocking and important viewing (will be getting the book!).  Anyone who knows me, knows I get riled up about the food (and health) industry, and knows I am a huge advocate of the need to return to ‘real’ food.  I’m the lesser-known Michael Pollan, so to speak. So the movie prompted me to explore things further, to check out the co-producers Participant Media and their social action campaigns, and I came across this interesting article about The Role that Lobbyists Play in Your Food.

Then the following week, in need of something to watch on the plane-ride back from my parents, I downloaded Casino Jack, starring Kevin Spacey in the role of real-life Washington DC lobbyist Jack Abramoff who was disgraced and jailed for corruption following his role in the Indian lobbying scandal.  Another film I’d recommend, which highlights the (often not-so-Kosher) world of lobbying, how influence and money is power, and how politics and big business are intrinsically intertwined.

Then, this Sunday, Film 4 broadcasted another excellent film, Thank You For Smoking, based on the novel by A&B author Christopher Buckley. It’s both a hilarious and thought-provoking satire about a lobbyist for Big Tobacco (Nick Naylor) and by extension about the world of lobbying at large (Nick’s two pals are lobbyists for alcohol and guns who refer to themselves as ‘The MOD Squad’ or ‘Merchants of Death’). My one gripe is that Film 4 chose to broadcast the movie at 11pm on a ‘school-night’ which means anyone hoping to start the working week well-rested will have missed it. But you can still enjoy the brilliant book which sits permanently on my bookshelf next to my other Buckley favourite, Boomsday).

So there you go, recently lobbyists keep popping up in my life, which is probably not surprising, seeing as they influence our world and how it is run, perhaps, more than we know.

Chiara Priorelli, Publicity & Online Marketing Manager