In Response to Doug Kendall

Doug's post was about trash talking in marketing. He asked; Do you think think this is effective marketing? Do you think this type of advertisement actually has an adverse affect on these companies?

I think that in many industries, "trash talking" is actually the best type of marketing. Take the car insurance industry for example. It is impossible for them to effectively market their service without pointing out the disadvantages of other companies' service and what they do better than their competitors. They all say that if you switch from their competitor you will save such and such dollars a year.

I do not believe that this type of marketing has an adverse affect on these companies. If I owned a firm competing for customers and one of my competitors made a claim on their commercial that I thought I could prove to be false or that I could beat, I would do it. That is sometimes the only way for businesses to compete for the limited number of customers in their target markets.

Ethics Scenario homework

Should John Smith sell the names?

The answer, simply, is no. He should not be selling the names of his employees for any reason, even if it means it might save a few people their jobs. He should be protecting the private information of his employees. Whether or not they are the sole breadwinners in their families is immaterial in this case. Private information regarding employees should not be solicited for any reason.

Does the AMA statement of ethics address this issue?

The AMA statement of ethics directly addresses this issue under their "fairness" category of ethical values. They state directly; "Avoid knowing participation in conflicts of interest. Seek to protect the private information of customers, employees, and partners." John Smith should not sell his employees information because it violates both parts of this ethical standard. Selling the names would be a conflict of interest because he is supposed to keep his employees information confidential, and he can't do that if at the same time he is selling them to make money. The second part of this statement would also be directly breached if this sale took place. He should seek to protect his employees information. Obviously, he can't be committed to this statement if he sells the information.