Unethical Food Marketing to Children

Marketing Ethics is the area of applied ethics which deals with the moral principles behind the operation and regulation of marketing. Some areas of marketing ethics, namely, ethics of advertising and promotion overlap with media ethics. Business ethics has been an increasing concern among larger companies, at least since the 1990s. It is a difficult subject because of a fine line between aggressive good business and business practice that is harmful to one party or another. Although ethics has certainly become a hotly debated topic of discussion, but most marketers believe that they are honestly presenting what they have to sell to consumers. Unfortunately, most of them have not explored just what consumers believe about their products or compared those opinions to the realities of product delivery. Ignorance is no excuse for mistakes, and ethical breaches cannot be excused, because marketers were ostensibly unaware of their deceptions.

Some unethical behaviour happens because the violator just doesn't understand where the line is. In a global market-place, success attracts competition and competition forces all players to do anything they might not otherwise do. This happens to be the mantra in a market-driven economy, and it is the single most common reason why some marketers believe that virtually any means are justified by the end. Market economies demand success and promise rewards commensurate with effort, often regardless of the intent of that effort. Ethics can sometimes take a back-seat to the need to please. All are looking for the same thing: Profitable Revenue. They are ethical professionals who want to operate accordingly, but compensated for financial results. We are all shocked (if not surprised) by the blatant and intentional forms of ethical violations that are becoming more common today, but more subtle types are the most insidious. Trust between buyer and seller can be seriously damaged in either case, but the subtle unethical actions can do considerable damage to valuable brand equity before anyone notices that something is not quite right. And, if such actions are intentional, the violators are every bit as culpable.

Whatever be the type or motivation, ethical behaviour is now permanently on the minds of customers in virtually all industries, including food. Major corporations increasingly fear the damage to their image associated with press revelations of unethical practices. Marketing ethics and marketing law are related subjects. Relevant areas of law include Consumer Law, which protects consumers, and Anti-Trust Law, which protects competitors - in both cases, against unethical marketing practices. Regulation extends beyond the law to lobbies, watch-dog bodies and self-regulatory industry bodies.

......TBC