Cold Turkey was filmed in Iowa during the summer of 1969. Stars including Bob Newhart, Dick Van Dyke, Jean Stapleton, Tom Poston, and Barnard Hughes appeared in the film, which was directed by Norman Lear who was later responsible for the ground breaking sitcom "All in the Family".
The film was set in the fictional small town of Eagle Rock, Iowa, but the filming was actually done in and around Greenfield. The movie's plot was simple: as part of a public relations campaign, an advertising executive comes up with the idea of a tobacco company paying $25 million to any town in America that can stop smoking for 30 days. The cold turkey campaign turns Eagle Rock into a bickering community and the story becomes less about smoking and more about the transformation of character brought about by greed.
While the movie was being made, the movie studio's publicity department actually engaged in a real stop smoking campaign in Greenfield.