Principles Of Marketing and Marketing Ethics

To develop an understanding of the concept of ethics and its application to marketing.

Before you begin, read the week 3 ppts and chapter 18 of the text on Ethics and Socially Responsible Marketing.

1. Find three specific brand/company examples of what you believe to be unethical marketing (hint: link to one of the 4 Ps). Your examples can include screen grabs of digital ads, print ads, a photo of an out-of-home advertisement, newspaper/journal articles, direct marketing that you have received, etc. The examples must be specific to the domain of marketing (e.g. Volkswagen greenwashing or Loblaws and bread price-fixing) and not business in general (e.g. Uber and the use of bribes to obtain/retain business).
   • The examples must be real (not a meme); cite sources.
   • The examples must be from the last five years.
   • Be original! See Blackboard for overused campaign examples that will not be accepted.
   • The examples cannot be something we have discussed in class.
   • Briefly explain (maximum 3 sentences) why you think your example represents unethical marketing.
   • Attach your three examples (e.g. a photograph, a newspaper/journal article, or a screen grab). Submitting only a URL will result in a 0 grade for that example.
2. Find an example of one company (not the brand) that you feel consistently practices socially responsible marketing, where success is measured not just on financial performance but on environmental and social performance as well. Ensure your example is a company and not a brand (for example, the Ben & Jerry's brand is wholly owned by Unilever).
   • The example cannot be something we've discussed in class (e.g. Patagonia).
   • Briefly explain why you think your chosen company qualifies as practicing socially responsible marketing. Include three specific environmental-social actions (2 environments and 1 social OR 1 environment and 2 social).
   • Attach three examples to support your chosen company. These examples should link to your explanation above. The examples can include website screengrabs, print ads, and newspaper/journal articles.