In Response to M-Blog

John Smith
Should John Smith sell the names? (Be sure to answer the poll to the left of this post.) Also, Does the AMA Statement of Ethics address this issue? Go to the AMA website (American Marketing Association) and look at their Statement of Ethics. What in the Statement relates to John Smith's dilemma?


John Smith should NOT sell the names because there are other options besides laying off employees to cut costs. Also, the poll did not necessarily ask if the poll takers were interested in buying the cars, only if they would want the car. Just because a person wants a new car doesn't mean that they are going to buy a new car or even if they plan to buy a new car it can still fall through and not happen.


I think that the America Marketing Association's Statement of Ethics does address this situation because it includes core values of honesty, responsibility, fairness, respect, transparency and citizenship. There could be many reasons why John Smith's business is not doing well, but selling people out is not the way to go about fixing his problems. Plus the $8000 will run out but if he ups his marketing or some other part of his business, then the money could start coming in more and will continue to rather than running out.


Are there any other factors which should play into Smith's decision to sell the names or not? ...Ethical or otherwise?

Groupon Controversy - Is it a Spoof?

Groupon is a company which has special deals every day with businesses so that if a set number of people buy the product or service they all get a discount. You can learn more about it in this video.  During this past Superbowl, Groupon aired a very controversial ad that cost 3 million dollars: Save the Money - Tibet: 
This ad starts out by showing scenery in Tibet, saying that the country is in trouble. Then it shifts to a man in a restaurant saying that they make good food and that he got a discount because he and a whole lot of other people all bought on Groupon.com.


Not only did Groupon air this ad, but the company also aired two other controversial ads: one which makes fun of saving whales and the devastation of the Brazil rainforest. But the CEO of Groupon, Andrew Mason, explained to The Wall Street Journal that the ads were only intended to be a spoof and that, in regards to the Tibetans, that the company takes the suffering of these people seriously and intends to raise money for them. More on this controversy can be read here on ABC News.com


After watching the advertisement, reading this post and the linked article, do you think that Groupon is unethical in their advertisement? Are they taking comedic advertisement too far?