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Conflict of interest – Readers may assume blog writers provide their personal
opinions without bias and may view blogs as credible sources of information in
At this point, the instructor may wish to review the four methods of ethical reasoning (virtue,
utility, rights, and justice) as presented in Chapter 4, and then proceed to look at each option in
If Whitlock paid the bloggers without requiring a disclaimer (options A and B):
If Whitlock had required a disclaimer (option C), these concerns would be mitigated, because
prospective customers would then be aware that the blogger had received a payment, so no
deception would be involved.
Should Carolina Pad pay the bloggers without requiring a disclaimer on the blog, the public
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Whitlock had the option of funding one or more of the bloggers’ requests but not funding
each of them. In choosing this approach, she would have needed to request a media kit from
and on fewer consumers. An astute student could correctly argue that the consequences would
be less positive (for the bloggers) and less negative (for consumers) if fewer individuals are
affected.
Saying “no” to the bloggers, with or without expressing ethical concerns:
important component of Whitlock’s strategy for promoting Carolina Pad. She, therefore, highly
desires for a continued positive relationship with these individual bloggers. Depending on how
relationship might increase the likelihood of one or more of these bloggers writing negative
reviews about Carolina Pad’s products in the future. On the other hand, not disclosing her true
reason would be somewhat dishonest.
On the other hand, Option E (say no, and disclose the reason) would honestly disclose
theories may apply to her alternatives. Principle-based ethics would seem to argue against
revenue could Carolina Pad expect or how important is this in overall sales) versus the potential
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Teaching Tip: Mission Statement and Federal Regulations
After applying the four methods of analysis, the instructor may ask if either the
company’s mission and values statement or federal regulations provide any guidance to
Whitlock.
At the time of the incident, no industry code of conduct had been adopted regarding
blogging for marketing purposes. The instructor may, however, wish to direct students to codes
of conduct within similar industries. If so, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) offers
Neither of these two codes of conduct applied directly to Whitlock’s dilemma about
whether to fund bloggers in exchange for brand mention on their blogs. However, the instructor
may wish to direct students to these codes of conduct for two reasons: 1) Examining the
resource in evaluating her alternatives.
5. What do you think Whitlock should do, and why?
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the requests and potential bribery (the payment of the funds) and/or deceit (the appearance of an
unbiased positive endorsement that was actually biased).
understand the relationship between Carolina Pad and the blogger, thereby allowing them to
interpret the blogger’s review with that relationship in mind. As such, Alternative C would seem
altogether (Alternative E or F).
avoid taking part in unethical actions and/or bribery and to do so with less risk of straining the
Teaching Tip: Additional Exercise
As an additional exercise, the instructor may ask students to draft federal regulations or
an industry code covering the situation presented in the case. Students may be asked to develop
acknowledgement of the relationship. In making its proposals, each group’s considerations
should include Whitlock’s’ dilemma and its effect on the various stakeholders; the legal
precedent established in the music industry regarding radio broadcasters and their requirements
for acknowledging pay for play as mentioned in the case; the Blog with Integrity principles; and
Before revealing April’s decision, the instructor should ask each student to reexamine the
responses he/she wrote to the opening questions. Some students will have changed their original
opinions. The instructor may wish to conclude the class by asking students who changed their
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opinions to explain why.
Epilogue:
After reviewing the principles presented on BloggingwithIntegrity.com and discussing
discount at Carolina Pad’s online store. In addition, they provided the bloggers the opportunity
Thank you for bringing this opportunity to our attention. Unfortunately, we do not have
Good luck and enjoy the conference.
Best Wishes,
April
In other words, Whitlock selected option F.
No negative blogs were written about Carolina Pad as a result of its unwillingness to
only required full disclosure of cash transactions linked to product reviews, but also required
disclosure of free products that had been provided before reviews.
The full list of these new guidelines can be found at:
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm