There is a growing demand for businesses to maintain high ethical standards in all their practices. Consumers are interested in buying from companies that engage in fair and informed marketing activities. The increased sensitivity of consumers to unethical business practices is partly due to the collective efforts of consumer activist groups and the media, which brings to the public attention many unfair business practices that are otherwise ignored. Greater awareness of unethical business practices in the marketplace ultimately influences how consumers think about and respond to the placement of unethical practices in general. The continued placement of unethical practices will have serious negative consequences for the company’s reputation, profitability, and long-term survival.
Unethical marketing has been recorded, for example, in the tobacco industry. Tobacco advertising and promotion have become an acute ethical issue, as tobacco is an unhealthy product that harms the body. Luzar et al. (2021) state that despite the fact that tobacco advertising is prohibited, tobacco industry leaders are trying to challenge the need for control over advertising. In the internal correspondence of the tobacco industry, terms such as young adults or new smokers became euphemisms for children or adolescents. However, tobacco companies have taken all measures to ensure that their products are well known to people.
The unethical behavior of marketers is explained by one main direction – the desire to make money. This desire is easily achievable in advertising and promoting tobacco products since there are still marketers who behave ethically and refuse this type of advertising. According to Federal Trade Commission report (2018) cigarette and smokeless tobacco companies spent $9.06 billion on advertising and promotional expenses in 2018 in the United States alone. This makes it possible for unethical marketers to request a more significant amount of monetary compensation. Naturally, advertising tobacco products that provoke people to buy and use tobacco is harmful.
In conclusion, tobacco advertising is currently regulated by several laws, as tobacco does hurt health. Unfortunately, it periodically appears in the mass media, and tobacco is freely sold in stores. However, the ethics of marketers and advertising should be considered in more detail by state and local authorities. Advertising of tobacco products is aimed at attracting people who have been smoking for a long time and attracting new smokers, among whom there are young people.
References
Federal Trade Commission. Federal Trade Commission Cigarette Report for 2018. Washington: Federal Trade Commission, 2019.
Luzar, K., Greenland, S., & Low, D. (2021). The Sage handbook of marketing ethics. L. Eagle, S. Dahl, P. Pelsmacker & C.R. Taylor (Eds.), London, England: Sage.