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UNIT EIGHT – ETHICS AND PRODUCTS
SECTION 8A – ADVERTISING CONTENT
CASE 8.1 – SKECHERS AND THE MUSCLE-BUILDING SHOE
Answers and Key Discussion Items
1. There were promises of performance and statements of fact – there were studies cited and notions of
muscle fitness.
2. The claims seem wild to a reasonable and prudent person, but the FTC found them to be deceptive.
There are some celebrity figures that have become comic, but it is still an endorsement. The sales
3. This was a conflict of interest. You manage a conflict of interest by either disclosing it or by not doing
CASE 8.2 – JOE CAMEL: THE CARTOON CHARACTER WHO SOLD CIGARETTES
AND NEARLY FELLED AN INDUSTRY
Answers and Key Discussion Items
1. The cartoon character makes Camel cigarettes and all cigarettes more attractive to young people
than they would otherwise be. The character is charming, wears his baseball cap as they do
RJR is in the business to sell cigarettes. Suggest to the students that perhaps RJR should sponsor
some types of education programs designed to discourage young people from smoking. Would this
work or would it just be tokenism that would never counter the efficacy of Joe Camel? The executive
2. There are many pension funds (Harvard included) that have made the decision not to hold
investments in cigarette companies. These decisions are based on the fact that their focus on health
and well-being cannot be reconciled with an investment in a product that has been established as
3. A positive association with a logo is a positive association with the product. A positive image makes
4. The anti-tobacco advocate is really saying even he did not step in soon enough to stop the ads. He
points out that we see an issue evolving and take no action and then must share in the responsibility.
He is perhaps suggesting that private restraint might have been negotiated with the companies.
5. The antismoking campaign could be undertaken for several reasons: (a) protection from the
accusations of the past; (b) socially responsible behavior; or (c) the right thing to do in terms of costs
for the company and avoiding backlash. The company is spending the money to get a message
6. These countries are behind the United States in terms of their regulatory cycle. Also, the legal
systems are not the same there and the chances of recovery on a level seen in the United States is
Compare & Contrast
The goal with questions such as this one is to get students to think more deeply about the role of and
relationships between social responsibility and ethics. Here is a company that fulfills one of the critical
CASE 8.3 – CEREAL CLAIMS OF HEALTH, BETTER GRADES, IMMUNITY, AND
SUGAR CONTENT
Use PowerPoint Slides 294 - 298.
Answers and Key Discussion Items
1. The FDA found that the ads are misleading, although the company stands behind the ads. The
company offered to put forward the research. The question is whether a reasonable person would be
2. The angle is one that sells cereal – if customers believe that there is a health benefit associated with
3. The ads post-FDA action are different and rely on the cereal’s imprimatur from the American Heart
Association and limit the claims to the heart association’s recommendations on certain foods and
simply calls out that Cheerios is one of those foods. The language on the box is clear, but the ad still
4. Children have been shown to understand public service ads – about fire safety and stranger danger,
so with the right approach, an ad could convince children, for example, to eat healthy foods. Note
that Simon uses legal, ethical, and moral as all the same terms. They are not. In legal analysis, the
ads are legal. In ethical analysis, the advertisers, the manufacturers, and broadcasters need to do
5. Nickelodeon is an inherence school of invisible hand company – it will let the market decide what
should be done and makes no judgment about products – it runs a TV network that needs ad
revenues. If the products are bad, they will self-eliminate through no sales or the government will
6. This case is an excellent illustration of companies acting together to address a social issue and
Compare & Contrast
1. The companies are trying to self-regulate in order to avoid bans on advertising on certain programs,
2. This is a good place to have a discussion about malum in se and malum prohibitum. What is
inherently evil vs. what has been declared to be evil by regulation. Compliance with the law is a
minimum standard of ethical behavior but, it is also true, that violations of all laws does not carry a
moral component. In ethical analysis, we are required to look at the purpose of the law in order to
CASE 8.4 – EMINEM VS. AUDI
Answers and Key Discussion Items
1. The material is borrowed without attribution and capitalizes on the groundwork laid by Chrysler.
2. Probably not because of the differences in the cars and type of buyers and drivers.
3. A criminal wrong would be the intentional use of another's ad. Here there is a parody – it is more a
4. The writer is confused about intellectual property rights. Unfortunately, we do not have the right to
5. The ad was probably not a parody, but a chance to gain from Eminem’s recognition without
