For your assignment this week, Id like you to apply some of the ethical codes we discussed in class to the following scenarios. To complete this assignment, pick two of the situations from below. First, explain what the ethical conflicts are, and what ethical principles this violates. (To complete this assignment, choose from one of the following codes of ethics: PRSA, IABC, or Page Principles.) Second, explain how you could best handle this situation moving forward as a PR professional. (Hint: Some of the strategies introduced in the presentation for approaching ethical situations could help you!)

The Threatening Tweet

You are the marketing manager of a company that manufactures video games. You hired a public relations firm to promote your newest game, Rock On Forever. The PR firm sent copies of the game to many game reviewers, but the best of the reviews were half-hearted and lukewarm. In fact, most reviewers recommended not purchasing the game until the problems were ironed out.

These reviews angered the president of the public relations firm, who took to Twitter to proclaim: Game reviewers went too farwe are reconsidering who will get games next time. Almost immediately, he regretted that tweet, and he apologized several times on Twitter, but youve heard from many angry game reviewers today, furious because of the threat that they might not receive review copies of video games in the future. Your company has dealt with these reviewers for years, and they have given balanced, fair reviews on past video games.

What is the ethical situation or conflict? What should you do?