Business Ethics 5 – Products and Advertising

Advertisements are usually meant to make products to be bought more by customers. Business people try to use the most effective means of advertisement in order to have competitive advantage of other businesspersons in the market. Despite that, advertisements are meant to attract more customers there are too dangerous to be marketed because of the danger that they pause to both the customers and the society in general. For example, people mostly abuse handguns, cigarettes, and some drugs whiuch.

In order to market such products there should be strict measures, which should be put in place by the federal government to control the effects of the products, which may cause harm. The American marketing association commits itself to make sure that there is promotion of highest standard of professional ethical norms and values to all its members. Marketers should understand that they do not only work for the organizations but they should also act as the custodian in undertaking activities that bring good to the larger population.

This means that marketers are supposed to maintain high standards of ethical norms and ethical values. In order to protect the society from harmful effects of marketing of products that are dangerous there are regulations that I would put to marketing of these product. (DesJardins & Hartman, 2008). For cigarettes due to its negative health, effects it has it would be appropriate for markets to put a label on the cigarettes, which warns the smoker that the cigarette is harmful to his or her health and to the health of other members of the society.
There should also be no program in the media, which should be sponsored by companies, which manufacture cigarettes. This would reduce creation of positive attitude about cigarettes to the public, which may lead to its increased consumption. The marketers should also not be allowed to put the large posters, which are used for advertisement in public places such as rods. For prescription, drugs there should be a regulation that the drugs should only be sold to those people who have a note from a physician prescribing him or her to take the drugs.
They should also a label, which Cleary shows the negative effects they have if abused. For the handguns there should be registering of any handgun that is purchased this would help to reduce criminals obtaining them, licensing of handgun owners, there should also be prohibition of mentally ill people from obtaining handguns. All these regulations would protect the society from many negative effects caused by marketing of handguns. 2. There are usually two criteria that the federal trade commissions use to regulate advertisement. They use deception and fairness as the two criteria.
An advertisement is unfair if it has harmful effects to the consumer. For example, if it is an advertisement of a product, which causes negative health effects, then such an advertisement can be termed was unfair. Deceptive advertisement is an advertisement, which uses false or misleading statements to attract customers. Deceptive advertising usually hurts the customers because they may contain statements, which may not be true, which may rue the customer to buy a certain product. This is because the advertisement may contain hidden fees and charges or manipulation of standards of the goods.
There is decision-making process, which is used to determine how an advertisement can be unfair. One-step in this process includes looking whether the advertisement hurt and cause injuries the customer. If the advertisement is found to do this then it is taken to be unfair. The injury should be substantial in terms of monetary such as the seller forcing the buyer to goods or services, which are not wanted. The injury, must also be one that the customer could not have reasonably avoided. This is because market place should be self-correcting.
The other step involves looking whether the advertisement violates the established public policy, which governs advertisement. Then there is an examination on whether the advertisement is unethical or unscrupulous. The advertisement should also give the consumer sufficient information so that the customer can be able to make informed decisions (DesJardins & Hartman, 2008). References DesJardins, J. & Hartman, L. (2008) Business ethics: decision-making for personal integrity and social responsibility, New York, McGraw-Hill Higher Education.