Ethics in Marketing

Ethics in Marketing

Marketing, in today's society, is the only way for businesses to attract more business. Unfortunately, marketing has become an ethical dilemma for competing businesses and for many consumers. Many businesses often use fine print or speed talkers for hidden aspects of the product or products for which they are advertising. Consumers need to become fully aware of all aspects of the product they are interested in, and know all ramifications of the "fine print".

Within the last twenty years or so, many regulations have been enacted to protect competing businesses and consumers from false and unethical advertising. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the main federal agency that enforces advertising laws and regulations (Truth in Advertising). Many aspects of ethical marketing behavior in the past were commonly known only as unethical. In today's society, many of these very same practices are actually against the law. Many businesses do not realize that unethical marketing is not only against the law, but it can also severely hurt business.

In the early 1960s, Philip Morris Inc., created the iconic Marlboro man. He was a rough and tough looking man riding a horse in the mountains smoking a cigarette. Two of the main actors that were portrayed as the Marlboro men both died of lung cancer due to the amount of cigarettes they had to smoke for all of the advertisements. The ethical dilemma here was in all of the advertisements there was no mention of how addictive nicotine in cigarettes was or how dangerous and harmful it is to yourself and others around you. One of the main actors who portrayed the Marlboro man was David McLean who died from lung cancer. His wife brought suit against Philip Morris Inc. stating the cigarettes were the cause of her husband's death. She wanted damages based on there was never anything stated to her husband, or to the public in all of the advertisements, about the addictiveness or dangers associated with smoking cigarettes. As far as I could tell the cases were never dismissed by any judge and seems like it is still open today. It was unethical for Philip Morris Inc. to not state the dangers associated with smoking cigarettes but, they never said it was perfectly safe either. If they had stated these dangers, it most likely would have seriously hurt their business. This is why, as consumers, each and every one of us should not only choose between what is right and wrong but be able to rationalize when making choices concerning brands, products, or services (Amgad, 2007).

Another unethical marketing tactic but, is not against the law, is speed talking in advertisements or fine print. New car dealerships are very well known for these tactics. Everyone sees advertisements on television that show really good deals to get you to their dealership, but there is always fine print with those deals that most people do not know about until they arrive to look at the vehicle. In radio commercials they tend to use speed talkers to explain down payments, credit score level, and legal jargon that most people do not catch onto due to the fact they talk so fast. One time in my life it would be nice to see an advertised price on a car and actually be able to buy that car for that price without all of the hidden fees. Unfortunately what they are doing is perfectly legal due to they are showing or telling all aspects of the sale, it just is not in a means where people can read or hear it