Introduction
People have always been arguing about marketing ethics and the way it can be justified. Unfortunately, advertisers are unlikely to act fairly toward their target audience. The more lures any advertiser invents, the more clients they will attract. This fact corresponds to increasing profits forcing managers to resort to deception. They may consider a lie to be an efficient tool to earn more. However, a lie can hardly be advocated in this case. If a client is misled for the sake of somebody else’s benefit, such an act may serve illustration of unscrupulous means to achieve one’s mean goals. Both Kantians and Utilitarians would take a grave view of such ways to run a business because there is nothing but profound egoism behind it.
Main Body
Indeed, the situation may turn out to be more complicated than simple fraud. If the deception was evident, the government would easily punish the offender. Meanwhile, the article under consideration describes an interesting case that can be seen from different perspectives (Business Ethics Highlights, n.d.). By and large, one person bought a bottle of McCormick maple extract and read on it that the 2-fluid-ounce bottle contained two times “more” than our one bottle, whereas the 2 oz bottle contained two times “as much”. (Business Ethics Highlights, n.d.). This case seems so complicated that one has to read it five times in a row to seize the essence of the matter.
Probably, the author of the article claims that “two times more” corresponds to 1 + 2(1), whereas “two times as much” is 1 x 2. That is why people may think that they buy three times more, not two times more, for the same price. Certainly, this looks like a trick to make people buy more bottles thinking that they economize. In this case, Kantians would say that it is an immoral act. Even if the clients profit from it, the motive is corrupted (Savile, 2019). That is why admen should better stop using deceptive advertising. One should never forget that moral values and noble motives are more important than possible profit. By deceiving people the corporation may easily lose its reputation for good reason, as Kantians might claim.
Surprisingly, Utilitarians are likely to side with their colleagues in this case. The beauty of this theory lies in judging actions by their results (Lazari-Radek & Singer, 2017). If this or that action does not lead to well-being and happiness, it is something bad. The company’s interests cannot be taken into account because it can hardly add a lot to its prosperity. A student will buy this bottle to drink for several days and waste their last dollar on it. However, it would be absolutely nothing for a huge corporation.
Nevertheless, there is a third point of view on this particular situation. The way the author speculates phrases seems to be very specific. The point is that very few people are generally believed to distinguish between “two times more” and “two times as much”. There is a huge doubt that even the companies’ admen have ever noticed it. One should have Ph.D. in mathematics to expect “2x more” (it is written on the bottle) to be suddenly a “3” because of some mathematical peculiarities. If it is true, there is nothing to discuss except the authors’ thirst for making a mountain out of a molehill.
Conclusion
To sum it up, many aspects should be taken into account to judge somebody’s motives and the ethical perspective of the problem. If admen intend to deceive their target audience, they are sure to create something unusual. However often it happens, one should never haste to blame them. There is always room for exaggeration and false convictions. Ordinary people rarely have time to make theories about multiplication. If they see “1 x 2”, they are unlikely to barely notice the words – more/as much – after it.
References
Business Ethics Highlights: Can ad copy be false but not misleading? If so, is that OK? (n.d.). Web.
Lazari-Radek, K. & Singer, P. (2017). Field archaeology: An introduction. Oxford University Press.
Savile, A. S. (2019). Kantian Aesthetics Pursued. Edinburgh University Press.