Big business affects ethics in promotion Essay

Ethics in marketing and promotion activities has been disregarded in the business world today. The reason again is the big profit at stake. Because big business entails big amount of profit, promotional ethics has been undermined. This gives birth to the deterioration of promotional ethics. History has shown many promotional activities that have evolved in style as well as in form while safeguarding the basic interest of promotions which is to profit just like in the lottery form of promotions. â€Å"In the 1960s, lottery-like contests designed to publicize products through sweepstakes competitions spread rapidly. In the 19th century, every state banned lotteries—defined as competitions in which chances to win prizes were sold—to protect citizens. In 1868, Congress prohibited the distribution of lottery materials through the mail. The mid-20th century sweepstakes, however, did not require contestants to purchase tickets or products to win prizes and were thus considered legal. † (Congress, 1970) In promoting a product, it is of a general rule that one must be honest. But looking at the business world today, honesty has vanished. The promotions in the business world have been characterized by deception. Majority of the companies promoting their products are only deceiving clients for earning purposes. They want a fast disposal of their products so that their capital and profit will soon be seen. They don’t care if the product is falsely advertised, all they care about is the people buying it. This absence of honesty and truthfulness plagues the business world. A product of such untruthfulness most of the time are discussed in court where a lot of clients give their complaints. Dishonesty can also be seen in instances like a company is telling the public that the product weighs like and the product gives vitamins such as these. But in reality, all they are saying are false and untruthful. This reality is very prevalent that sometimes people see it as just normal in marketing. Being dishonest sometimes is already accepted as part of the business world. In promotions, companies never look at the quality of their products. They just focus on promoting it and deceiving the public just again for profit. Promotions then become just words of manipulating the people. They do away from the criteria that what is said regarding a product must coincide with the truth about it. But in reality, truth about the product and the quality of the product diverge in two different directions. In promotion ethics, welfare of the clients must be first and foremost bannered. The clients are the ones giving life to the business world and they are the ones using the products. Again, with the prevalence of deception, businesses view the people as only tools for a desired end. They forget that the reason they indulge in business is not only for profit but for the service to the people. The people must experience good quality service from the business world. People must be given an honest and sincere service by businesses. The glamour for money of the people makes the promotional ethics deteriorate. This is a sad reality that we face. Now, it is true that it is very hard to overcome this because most people are very much inclined with money and the power in it. The constant desire of people to gain and assimilate material things brings about all the disease in promotional ethics. These are diseases that eat every persons’ being and not only deteriorates the promotional world but also the dignity of people inside it. SUMMARY While big business becomes bigger, media will continually be challenged to hold on to their ethical standards while balancing itself on the persuasive power of business to control media decisions of what to communicate and what information to keep away from public scrutiny. As these two forces contend with each other, using each other as leverage to further one’s own interests, balancers are needed. Social responsibility and media ethics are needed to strike the balance between these two forces from using each other’s strengths in order for the other to become bigger monsters that they are. â€Å"Big business has changed the world. The global growth of corporate culture has brought with it the spread of democratic systems, increased wealth and education, and diversified local economies. But it has also created extreme degrees of exploitation, greed, and environmental destruction. † (Enlightennext, 2006) It is a matter of time when consumers finally realize that they have the power to tip the scales between big business and media and forge these two giants to adhere to their social responsibility, ethical standards in a global setting. REFERENCES: American Advertising Federation Board of Directors, March 2, 1984, San Antonio, Texas.Berlau, John. March 18, 2002. Is big business ethically bankrupt? Insight on the News Blohowiak, Donald W. 1987. No Comment! An Executive’s Essential Guide to the News Media. Praeger Publishers Bowers, Chris. 2004. Media Conglomerate Will Attempt to Swing Election For Bush http://www. mydd. com/story/2004/10/9/153537/663 Congress, House, Select Committee on Small Business, Investigation of iPreselected Winnersi Sweepstakes Promotions: Hearings before the Subcommittee on Activities of Regulatory Agencies Relating to Small Business of the Select Committee on Small Business , House of Representatives, 91st Cong., 1st sess. , Washington, D. C. , November 12, 13, and 14, 1969 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1970). DuBrin, J. , Andrew, (February 2004). Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior. South- Wester Publication, 2004 Donaldson, T (1988). â€Å"Broadcasters Seek to Clean Up the Industry and Hope to Regulated Commercial Activities on the Air,† â€Å"Ethical Dilemnas†. Chicago, 1988 Evans, Fred J. 1987. Managing the Media: Proactive Strategy for Better Business-Press Relations. Quorum Books. Ethics and Television. November 21, 2006 from http://www. museum. tv/archives/etv/E/htmlE/ethicsandte/ethicsandte. htm Enligthennext. 2006. Can Big Business Save the World? Retrieved November 21, 2006 from http://www. wie. org/business/ Gardner, Howard and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, William Damon 2001. Good Work: When Excellence and Ethics Meet. Basic Books Glover, JD. 1954. The Attack on Big Business. Harvard University Press How Much Do Television Ads Cost? November 21, 2006 From http://www. gaebler. com/Television-Advertising-Costs. htm Liebert, R. M., & Sprafkin, J. (1988). The Early Window (3rd ed. )New York: Pergamon. McGuire, William J, 1986. â€Å"The Myth of Massive Media Impact: Savaging and Salvaging. † in C. Comstock (ed) Public Communication Campaigns. 2nd edition. Newbury Park CA: Sage. NBC. â€Å"National Broadcasters Meet at Chicago and Adopt Code of Ethics† New York Times (New York), March 26, 1929. Perse, Elizabeth M. 2001. Media Effects and Society. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Smith. J. W. 1994. The World’s Wasted Wealth II, (Institute for Economic Democracy, 1994), p. 224.