Advertisers and public relations consultants are faced with ethical decision making everyday. This doesn’t mean that they make the best decision for the benefit of society when they are faced with the choice between right and wrong.
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that states a decision is made for the greater good of society; this creates most rules, regulations and laws that society abides by today. Most advertisers are held to these rules and regulations in order to be seen as honorary by society, but some advertisers do not obey this theory in order to make a profit.
When Reebok made the decision to create and sell shoes that were intended to benefit the consumer by giving them better looking legs, they did not think to make sure that this product actually did what it said it could do. According to the FTC, it was never proven that the EasyTone sneakers would actually provide consumers the results that Reebok claimed the shoes would give. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/28/reebok-settlement-toning-sneakers_n_985141.html)
With this case, we are able to see that Reebok didn’t abide by the rules and regulations set by the FTC to make sure that the product would produce the results that were supposed to be given to the consumer while wearing the shoe. Reebok ended up profiting off of their consumer, because the buyer believed the shoes would produce the results that Reebok said would happen upon purchasing their product.
It is here that we can say that Reebok was abiding by the theory of egoism. Egoism is the ethical theory that a decision is made for the benefit of one’s self-interest and not for the greater good of society. In this case, Reebok put the shoes on the market to make a profit, which benefited the company, and the decision they made was NOT for the greater good of society.
In the end, Reebok is paying for their decision big time. They have agreed to a $25 million settlement with their consumers. This is the part where the theory of utilitarianism is taking place. Reebok promised something to their consumer that was never proven true. The company believed it was in their best interest to keep their mouths shut to make millions off of their lies. It wasn’t until the FTC stepped in to shed light on Reebok’s blunder and give the consumers what they deserved, the truth. Now that Reebok is paying for their egotistical decision to make money instead of giving the consumer a solid product, they are doing what is best for the greater good of society and giving the money back to those who were disappointed in the product.
Everyone has a set of morals and values. When they step into the workplace those morals and values are occasionally left on the doorstep and decisions are made at the expense of the consumer. It is unfortunate that we have come into a society where there is no trust, when less than 50 years ago our grandparents were allowing the milkman to come into their houses and leave without stealing anything. Leave the door open in today’s society for the milkman and he’d probably steal our plasma TVs and our high-end computers without a second thought.
In ethics, we are to believe that everyone has their own moral code that they live by, but sometimes when I see how advertisers pull the wool over our eyes to make a profit I begin to question if this is true. We should be able to trust that the products that companies design are made in our best interest and not theirs. It is unfortunate that in our society today we cannot make our judgment of a service or product off of what the commercials advertise them to be. We have to wait until the FTC comes to our aid to open our eyes and see that we’ve been duped.
I honestly don’t think that I could morally produce a product that doesn’t do what I say it’s going to do. Our families don’t make dinner and say, “this is the best damn dinner you’re going to eat” and it winds up tasting like garbage, they mean it when they say it that they’ve produced an honor worthy product. I will not put my morals aside for any company that says to lie or deface our consumers, its just not ethically right.
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