Chapter 3 & 4- Emerging Business Ethics Issues
Chapter 3: Emerging Business Ethics Issues
Daniel just graduated from Michigan University and landed a job as a copywriter at Young, Olsen, Lindle, and Olson (YOLO) Advertising assigned to one of the subsidiary accounts of Delicious Uber Bacon Ingredients Extraordinaire Corporation. This conglomerate was primarily a food processing manufacturer beginning 100 years ago with pork in the Midwest. Overall corporate sales of beef, chicken, pork, and seafood were more than $750 million each year. YOLO considered many advertising options and opted for a celebrity spokesperson. That meant Daniel would work with Gloria Kunies as the celebrity endorser. Ms. Kunies is a well-known, well-loved, young, and vibrant actress with a large younger following. Chloe, President of YOLO, asked Daniel to step into her office. “Daniel, this new account is a good start for you. We usually don’t let our new copywriters handle accounts by themselves, but you have proven to be a capable employee. Your job on this account is to write copy for the commercials using Ms. Kunies’s product testimonials. The copy needs to be crafted as a testimonial, targeting the market of 17- to 30-year-olds. Ms. Kunies already signed an affidavit as to being a bona fide user of the product. The scripts should feature her testifying to the quality, value, and tastiness of the bacon. I want you to meet her tomorrow so you can start the writing process and understand her personality in order to script the messages. Spend the rest of the day immersing yourself in her biography and researching her on the Internet.” As Daniel left Chloe’s office he remembered a Facebook post about Ms. Kunies being a vegetarian. The next day at their meeting, Daniel asked her if she had actually tasted the bacon. Ms. Kunies replied, “Why yes, technically and legally I have tried Uber. In fact, I’ve been a huge fan since I was a kid. Bacon is my favorite food. I’ve done several testimonials in the past and know the American Advertising Federation (AAF) rules. I know as long as my comments are based on verifiable personal use, the message cannot be challenged as deceptive. In fact, Uber bacon has been a favorite of mine since I was young. It wasn’t until a month ago I became a vegetarian. Eating all that bacon for decades really did a number on my cholesterol.” “So, you feel comfortable about endorsing Uber even though you don’t eat it now?” asked Daniel. “No question about it. As far as bacon goes, Uber is second to none in taste. If people are going to eat bacon, why not eat the best? Even if it is a heart attack waiting to happen,” Ms. Kunies joked. The next day Chloe asked Daniel how it went. He explained their conversation and expressed concern over the fact Ms. Kunies is currently a vegetarian, and she attributed her high cholesterol to Uber bacon. Daniel felt relief when he saw the concern in Chloe’s face, but soon realized her concern was about Ms. Kunies pulling out of the advertisement. Daniel reassured Chloe that Ms. Kunies still wanted to promote the product, but it seemed like a contradiction to have a vegetarian promoting bacon. Chloe responded by saying as long as Ms. Kunies had eaten the bacon at some point in her life and thinks it is a good product, it makes no difference as to whether she currently eats the bacon. She continued, “Sometimes in advertising, you have to add a spin to the message you are communicating so it fits with the product you are selling. Not only are you selling a product, but more importantly, you are selling an experience, a feeling, an idea that appeals to consumers.” As Daniel walked home that evening, he wondered how he was going to write this advertisement. He did not want to begin his career in a dishonest manner, but he also wanted to produce work that pleased his boss. He tried to think of creative ways to mask the contradiction of the advertisement. Maybe with humor? He asked himself if this approach would still feel dishonest. The next morning Daniel was going to meet with both Ms. Kunies and Chloe about what he had written thus far.
QUESTIONS | EXERCISES
1. Describe the ethical issues that Daniel is encountering.
2. Does this situation in any way violate the concepts of fairness, honesty, and integrity?
3. If the advertisement does not violate any laws, then why should Daniel be concerned? What are the possible consequences of the advertisement? * This case is strictly hypothetical; any resemblance to real persons, companies, or situations is coincidental.
Chapter 4: The Institutionalization of Business Ethics
Like most students at Arizona University, Ahmed was a student and spent 20 hours each week working at the university library. He liked the library because it was quiet and he could study some of the time. One interesting aspect of the library was the access to incredible databases, some of which were only for the professors. As a student worker he was privy to all the database codes, and soon discovered large amounts of materials for almost every class on campus. Bill, one of Ahmed’s fellow library student workers, was constantly talking about doing weird stunts and antics to put on YouTube. He was a nice person to be around but sometimes he was a little overbearing. One evening when Ahmed started work, Bill was talking about the many ways to download pirated music, movies, and books from the library’s system. “It is very easy and untraceable. I just route my requests to a professor’s IP address, then send it to several other faculty IP addresses so it is difficult to trace. I then go to one of the library computers, log in as someone else, put in a CD or Blu-Ray DVD, and burn what I want. The people’s computers I route through get a message that someone logged into their account, but the IT guys just tell them it’s no big deal and it happens all the time. IT never really looks into it because of the many systems and IP addresses on campus. Do you want me to get you any movies or CDs?” Ahmed politely refused, knowing full well this could get a person expelled from the university. Several months passed and Bill became more popular. Every day someone stopped by the library desk where he worked and talked to Bill. The person walked to one of the library’s computers, stuck in a disk, and several minutes later was gone. Ahmed looked at Bill and shook his head. Bill responded with a smile. One day, Ahmed found an envelope with his name on it when he went to his usual desk. When he opened it, there was $500 with a note saying, “Enjoy.” He started to ask people about the money, but then saw Bill smiling. At that moment, Ahmed knew the money was from Bill. He tried to give it back, but Bill refused to take it or admit he had given it to Ahmed in the first place. Ahmed became increasingly uncomfortable with Bill’s behavior. He knew what Bill did was wrong and possibly illegal. He didn’t want to be involved with it in any way, but he also didn’t want to become a snitch. Now he was receiving money for his involvement. Ahmed felt the situation was escalating and he should say something to his supervisor before something really bad happened, but he didn’t want to be the one to get Bill in trouble. Ahmed knew Bill could be expelled for something like this, which could potentially damage his entire future. Then again, Ahmed had his own future to worry about. Could he be expelled just for knowing what kind of activities Bill was involved in? What should he do with the money Bill gave him? What might happen if he doesn’t blow the whistle?
QUESTIONS | EXERCISES
1. Describe the stakeholders involved in this ethical dilemma. What stake do they have in the situation?
2. Are Bill’s actions an ethical issue, a legal issue, or both? Explain your reasoning.
3. What are some of the risks Ahmed faces if he becomes a whistle-blower? What are the risks if he remains silent? * This case is strictly hypothetical; any resemblance to real persons, companies, or situations is coincidental.
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