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Unethical Companies

Lauren Hoffmann

Ethics

  • Ethics are an essential part of running a company.
  • They keep a company held to certain standards, as well as, aid in keeping the trust between a company and their consumer.

Unethical Examples

These are five companies who have betrayed the trust of their consumers. They mislead their consumer in their advertising promotions.

Unethical

Disinfecting

  • Case was settled in 2010.
  • Wrigley's Eclipse, claimed it's gum and mints were “scientifically proven to kill germs that cause bad breath” (Cherney, 2013).

Eclipse

https://www.mars-llc.ru/cis/en/brands/wrigley.aspx

Reasons

Unethical Reasons

  • Targeting health focused individuals who want to “improve their health, their aesthetics and help them live longer” (Cherney, 2013).
  • They were using skewed test results to create the results they needed.

Environmental

Volkswagen

  • VW sold 550,000 diesel vehicles in between 2008 - 2015.
  • Claimed their diesel vehicles would "reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions" (Rechtin, 2016).
  • Actually pushed out NOx “at up to 40 times the legal limit” (Rechtin, 2016).

https://www.vw.com/

Reasons

Unethical Reasons

  • Claimed they were focusing on environmental safety, but doing the opposite.
  • They had an abundance of commercials - “super Bowl ads, online social media campaigns, and print advertising” (Rechtin, 2016).

Health

  • Started in 2008 and was settled in 2010.
  • Activia claimed their products were "'clinically’ and ‘scientifically’ proven to regulate digestion and boost immune systems” (Mcmullen, 2010).

Activia

https://www.activia.us.com/

Reasons

  • Created a product that was more expensive than others and not healthier.
  • The company targeted health focused individuals.

Unethical Reasons

Immune System

  • Kellogg's Rice Krispies claimed that children's immune systems would be boosted if children consumed Rice Krispies.
  • The Oregon state authorities created the law suit in the end of 2009.

Kellogg's

https://www.kelloggs.com/en_US/home.html

Reasons

Unethical Reasons

  • Targeting health focused parents by claiming the cereal will improve their child's immune system (Starling, 2011).
  • Kellogg's used the sense of belonging as a tool against parents.

Deception

  • Classmates started to charge individuals using their site to be able to communicate with each other.
  • Customers were informed they needed to update their accounts to a "Gold Memeber" to converse with fellow classmates (Turner, 2010).
  • The case was settled in 2008

Classmates

https://www.classmates.com/

Reasons

  • They were targeting individuals who are wanting to stay in contact with others
  • Classmates pushed another expense on individuals who are not benefiting from the upgraded status

Unethical Reasons

Aftermath

Conclusion

  • Due to the unethical advertisements,each company dealt with repercussions.
  • One of the main repercussions each company had to face was a repayment fee.
  • They also lost trust from their consumers due to the deception each company provided for their customers.

References

  • Cherney, M. (2013, April). Wrigley Settles False-Ad Class Action For $6M. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/docket/2010/06/01/wrigley-settles-false-ad-class-action-for-6m/.
  • Mcmullen, T. (2010, February). Dannon to Pay $45M to Settle Yogurt Lawsuit. Retrieved from https://abcnews.go.com/Business/dannon-settles-lawsuit/story?id=9950269.
  • Rechtin, M. (2016, March). FTC Charges Volkswagen With False Advertising. Retrieved from https://www.consumerreports.org/volkswagen/ftc-charges-volkswagen-with-false-advertising/.
  • Starling, S. (2011, January). Kellogg's to pay $5m for false Rice Krispies immunity claims. Retrieved from https://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/Article/2011/01/13/Kellogg-s-to-pay-5m-for-false-Rice-Krispies-immunity-claims.
  • Turner, A.-M. (2010, March). Classmates.com Agrees to $9.5 Million False Advertising Settlement. Retrieved from https://mashable.com/2010/03/14/classmates-com-agrees-to-9-5-million-false-advertising-settlement/.
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