Ethics and Regulation

Week 8 Discussion: Ethics and Regulation

QUESTION A

Over the past few weeks, we have learnt several new things about marketing as a whole. The subtopics that have been explored include the role of media and media strategies in marketing, advertisement and how it influences different businesses, public relations and promotion, creative strategy for electronic media among several others. The most important aspect learnt in these eight weeks was the media strategy and its influence on successful marketing. First and foremost, we learnt marketing communication as the art of presenting what one has to the best of the understanding of their prospective customer. It is mainly the channel through which what the company has to offer is clearly shown to the public.

Next, we learnt about advertisements as a major component of Marketing. It was labelled as the most effective tool for effective communication. The different ways in which advertisements can be made were also expounded on. The different categories of media that were discussed included print media and electronic media. Print media include newspapers, flyers, journals, billboards among several others. Electronic media includes the use of television, videos, radios and even the internet.

The topic that proved challenging was the one on public relations and promotions. This is because it had so much to learn in a very short span of time. There were also new things to learn about different situations. However, although it proved challenging, I was still able to grasp what was meant to be learnt in that lesson. For this reason, it is the lesson I would be very much interested to learn a few more things about and improve my knowledge in that field. This is also because it is a very important aspect in marketing and determines a lot in any business organization or company for that matter.

QUESTION B

An example of questionable advertising includes the advertisement of highly alcoholic drinks and ciggerates. The advertisement of such is questionable because, despite the few good effects that one obtains following the use of such drugs, the risks are much higher including the high tendencies of developing different cancers, especially those involving the head and neck. In my opinion, such advertisements are non-ethical. This is because they bring about long term consequences that can be very detrimental to an individual’s health and therefore, the use of such drugs should not be encouraged more so through advertisements as is often done.

There are several ethical regulations that apply to such advertisements. To begin with, the dangers of the drugs or the adverse effects should at least be stated so that when one takes them, they are well aware of the risks that they put themselves into. Next, there is the aspect of the legality of the age. Persons only above a certain age, determined by the various states should be allowed to consume such drugs. This is often reinforced by those that sell the drugs who are often encouraged to ask for the identification before any transaction is done. As a leader, say in a country, first I would decrease the alcohol content of all the drinks supplied within the country. I would then apply more stringent rules to ensure that only those of stipulated ages purchase the drugs. I would also increase the cost of these drugs to make them harder to come by so that individuals only take them when they can afford.

Finally, I would set up more rehabilitation centers to ensure that those already damaged by the drugs have a second chance. Most importantly I would deter all questionable advertisements as those involving alcoholic drinks, drugs and ciggerates from being aired to prevent several members of the public from knowing much about the product and thus limiting its use by the citizens.