The value of this assignment objective appears obvious. However, marketers retain a unique role in the application of ethical and responsible behavior. Is it ethical to be too positive about the benefits of your product? Are you responsible if your advertisement doesn't describe the entire details of your promotion? What if your advertisement is misinterpreted by a different culture? Is it ethical to place advertisements in schools? As marketers, we have the ability to affect many people with our actions. Understanding what is unethical and irresponsible is our responsibility.

It is easy to be working on a marketing project with a product you love and unknowingly guide your consumer during a survey into the answer you want, these and other examples of marketing can often fall into ethics. If you can grasp what areas might fall into ethical and unethical it will not only make you a better marketer, but also potentially save your company future problems, possibly even legal troubles or branding damage.

• Watch Ask the ethics guy! #11 - Ethics versus the law.
• Read Examples of questionable marketing ethics.
• Read Chapter 4 in your textbook.
• In your textbook there are five ethical situations presented in Chapter Four:
  • a medical society's decision to set fee schedules
  • the use of a computer program by auto dealers to arrange financing
  • smoking in China, d) downloading movies
  • the pricing of Cerdelga for the treatment of a rare genetic illness.
• How would you classify each of these situations?
  • Ethical but not legal.
  • Ethical and legal.
  • Unethical and illegal.
  • Unethical but legal.
  • Explain your reasoning behind each classification.