Advertisements Analysis
The organizations acted unethically in heir advertisements by violating the rules that are put in place to ensure that the ads aired or published fall under the proper guidelines. The organizations’ advertisements were not truthful and therefore distorted the truth of the matter, which could have caused confusion in public (Dean, 2005). The announcements did not uphold human dignity as they displayed content that targets vulnerable groups in society. The ads did not confirm the principle of social responsibility as they enhanced the waste of resources.
In the first case of the low price guarantee ad, they were not truthful as they developed a new name for their brand as a way of confusing the buyers. Therefore, they withheld important information or facts from the public to enhance their sales (Dean, 2005). On the second ad of using MLK to sell the product violated the human dignity principle by using a legend of civil rights as a model in the advertisement. The Sunny-D advertisement is not genuinely full as it only consists of 5% fruit juice, and the rest is a mixture of chemicals, yet they advertise it as being a healthy drink.
For the first incident, the response given was not satisfactory because the company did not have to lie to the customers by changing the brand name for competition purposes. If their mattress was of good quality, it could have sold with its original name. In the second incident of the MLK advertisement, the advertisers had permission from the family, and that was okay if it was authorized. The Sunny-D soft drink adds their response was inappropriate as they could have sold the products without lying to the people that it was a natural fruit juice (Dean, 2005). MLK was the only organization that appropriately responded to the critics.
The first advertisement would recommend they be honest with the public and make good mattresses for a reasonable price, and it will make them competitive. With the MLK advert, they did well to ask permission from the family, but to avoid the entire critic. They should find another creative method of advertising their products. And in the last advert, they should stop using ingredients that are not in the beverage; it is either the advert tells the truth about the components or change to pure fruit juice.
Reference
Dean, D. H. (2005). After the unethical ad: A comparison of advertiser response strategies. Business and Society Review, 110(4), 433-458.