Media Ethics: Cases and Moral Reasoning

Twelfth Edition

Home / Students / Part 3: Persuasion & Public Relations / Chapter 13: The Demands of Social Responsibility

Chapter 13: The Demands of Social Responsibility

This chapter focuses on the relationship between media advertising, with its attention to microtargeting recipients, tracking the behavior of digital media users, and the public concern about invasions of privacy resulting from standard practices. Users have become creators in the digital world, complicating advertisers’ effort to gain purchase with audiences. The rise of influencers, too, has made this task more difficult. Advertisers understand that people trust other people more than brands or messages themselves, thus requiring new forms of advertising such as the deployment of flash mobs to gain attention. Critics complain about ad creep and, more insidiously, the commercialization of everyday life, which seemingly makes advertising ever harder to identify. Advertisers are increasingly forced to employ unconventional tactics to cut through the clutter of the digital environment, leading to ethical concerns when platforms are seemingly hijacked or people find themselves subjected to blandishments they never anticipated.

Chapter 13 – Video Introduction

Transcript

Key questions for the chapter

  1. What are the ethical considerations when the public good can be served only at great expense to the company?
  2. Are time or financial constraints ever an acceptable rationale for compromising ethics? In other words, how much should these constraints be considered when choosing what should be done?
  3. In an increasingly pluralistic society, how does one conceptualize the general public and then decide what is best for it?

Case 57

Discussion Questions

  1. Should Juul be responsible for its products illegally reaching the hands of youth?
  2. Can companies that sell products considered to be unhealthy be socially responsible?
  3. How did social media contribute to the rise in Juul’s popularity among youth?
  4. Would Juul Labs have altered their marketing strategy if the FDA did not initiate investigation into their practices?

Weblinks

  1. Video resource: How Juul Made Nicotine Go Viral 
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFOpoKBUyok&t=233s&ab_channel=Vox
  2. Video resource: How JUUL Hooked Kids & Ignited A Public Health Crisis | TIME
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iAg2_PQ9o4&ab_channel=TIME
  3. Video resource: The Rise And Fall Of Juul | Rise And Fall
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkQ4WCAG38I&t=83s&ab_channel=InsiderBusiness

Case 58

Discussion Questions

  1. What are the pros and cons of the One for One® model?
  2. Beyond donations, what other corporate actions may be deemed socially responsible?
  3. Should more companies adopt the One for One® model?Is the shift in business model toward grassroot efforts more socially impactful?
  4. Can more businesses embed social responsibility into their business model?

Weblinks

  1. Video resource: Impact videos by TOMS® Shoes
    https://www.toms.com/us/impact.html
  2. Web resource: TOMS® story as told by TOMS®
    https://www.toms.com/us/about-toms.html
  3. Article resource: The Rise and Fall of the Buy-One-Give-One Model at TOMS®
    https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhessekiel/2021/04/28/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-buy-one-give-one-model-at-toms/?sh=3a8bb7fe71c4
  4. Article resource: TOMS® Undergoes its Biggest Rebrand—Inside the Company’s New Business Model
    https://footwearnews.com/2021/business/retail/toms-one-for-one-business-model-grassroots-good-1203128043/
  5. Article resource: Beware Companies that Promote “Buy One, Give One” Charity
    https://www.vox.com/first-person/2019/10/31/20938273/charity-warby-parker-cora-fast-fashion-buy-one-give-one
  6. Article resource: Beyond Buy-One-Give-One Retail
    https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/beyond-buy-one-give-one-retail

Case 59

Discussion Questions

  1. What aspect of the #IceBucketChallenge made it go viral?
  2. What can nonprofit organizations learn from the success of the #IceBucketChallenge?
  3. What are the drawbacks of a campaign going viral?
  4. Does the #IceBucketChallenge diminish the seriousness of a serious disease?

Weblinks

  1. Web resource: History of the Ice Bucket Challenge
    http://webgw.alsa.org/site/PageServer/?pagename=GW_edau_ibc_history
  2. Web resource: Official Website of the ALS Association
    http://www.als.org
  3. Article resource: Ice Bucket Challenge: 5 Things You Should Know
    https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/07/03/ice-bucket-challenge-5-things-you-should-know/448006001/
  4. Article resource: The Ice Bucket Challenge Wasn’t Just for Social Media. It helped Fund a new ALS Drug
    https://www.npr.org/2022/10/01/1126397565/the-ice-bucket-challenge-wasnt-just-for-social-media-it-helped-fund-a-new-als-dr
  5. Article resource: Here’s How the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge Actually Started
    https://time.com/3136507/als-ice-bucket-challenge-started/
  6. Blog resource: Six Ways to Use Social Media to Reach Your Fundraising Goals
    https://blog.philanthropy.iupui.edu/2021/07/23/6-ways-to-use-social-media-to-reach-your-fundraising-goals/
  7. Article resource: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media to Increase Donations and Boost Visibility
    https://www.forbes.com/sites/allbusiness/2021/03/06/how-nonprofits-can-use-social-media-to-increase-donations-and-boost-visibility/?sh=512ecee2bb7e

Case 60

Discussion Questions

  1. Should the public expect athletes to be role models? Why or why not?
  2. Is the new discipline policy sufficient to deter athletes from committing violence against women (Research suggests little impact on the careers of arrested players)?
  3. If the athlete/sports team that you support was found to have committed violence against women, will it change your level of support for them?
  4. When athletes behave badly, how should corporations that sponsor them respond?

Weblinks

  1. Article resource: Ray Rice Case Prompted NFL Changes on Domestic Violence, but Cases Continue to Test Policy
    https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2019/09/18/nfl-domestic-violence-ray-rice-tyreek-hill-ezekiel-elliott-adrian-peterson/2215187001
  2. Article resource: Ravens’ Ray Rice Allegedly Knocked Out Fiancee at Hotel
    https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/ravens/2014/02/19/ray-rice-girlfriend-unconscious-atlantic-city/5621415/
  3. Article resource: 49ers Ray McDonald Arrested on Domestic Violence Charge
    https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2014/08/31/ray-mcdonald-san-francisco-49ers-domestic-violence-charge/14899677/
  4. Article resource: Adrian Peterson: ‘I Wont Ever Use a Switch Again’
    https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/vikings/2014/11/20/adrian-peterson-roger-goodell-child-abuse-switch-minnesota-vikings/70025476/
  5. Article resource: NFL Suspends Dallas Cowboys’ Greg Hardy 10 Games
    https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/cowboys/2015/04/22/nfl-suspends-greg-hardy-for-10-games/26195405/
  6. Article resource: Armour: Josh Brown Admitted to Beating Wife, and NFL Barely Cares
    https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/nancy-armour/2016/10/20/josh-brown-new-york-giants-wife-abuse/92459970/
  7. Article resource: Ezekial Elliott Suspended Six Games by NFL After Domestic Violence Investigation
    https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/cowboys/2017/08/11/ezekiel-elliott-dallas-cowboys-suspended-six-games-domestic-violence/430626001/
  8. Article resource: The NFL’s Response to Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault
    https://www.nfl.com/news/the-nfl-s-response-to-domestic-violence-and-sexual-assault-0ap3000000439286
  9. Journal article resource: An Empirical Investigation of Violence Against Women in the NFL
    https://doi.org/10.1177/01937235211043645

Case 61

Discussion Questions

  1. Should PR agencies ever pitch for business with controversial clients?
  2. Why is it important for professional PR organizations like PRCA and Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) to exist?
  3. What message is UK’s PRCA sending to PR agencies in expelling Bell Pottinger?
  4. How do unscrupulous agencies like Bell Pottinger influence public trust in PR as a field?

Weblinks

  1. Article resource: The British PR Firm Disgraced by a South African Racism Scandal
    https://time.com/4926830/bell-pottinger-jacob-zuma-guptas-racism-scandal/
  2. Web resource: Multiple Articles Published by The Independent
    https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/bell-pottinger
  3. Article resource: Bell Pottinger Collapses after South African Scandal
    https://www.bbc.com/news/business-41245719
  4. Article resource: Reliving PR’s Biggest Scandal
    https://www.odwyerpr.com/story/public/18038/2022-06-08/reliving-prs-biggest-scandal.html
  5. Web resource: Bell Pottinger LLP
    https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/company/1239791D:LN
  6. Web resource: Oakbay Investments (PTY) LTD
    https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/oakbay-investments-pty-ltd
  7. Article resource: Dubai Arrests 2 Gupta Brothers Over South African Fraud Case
    https://apnews.com/article/politics-united-arab-emirates-middle-east-south-africa-dubai-c323649ff0f1799247dca4c4b6671976
  8. Article resource: Gupta Brothers Await Extradition to South Africa After Years of Refuge in the UAE
    https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/07/middleeast/gupta-brothers-corruption-arrest-dubai-intl/index.html
  9. Article resource: Mansion Seized from Gupta Family in South Africa Up for Sale
    https://indianexpress.com/article/india/mansion-seized-gupta-family-in-south-africa-up-sale-8366250/
  10. Article resource: “State Capture:” How the Gupta Brothers Hijacked South Africa Using Bribes Instead of Bullets
    https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/03/how-the-gupta-brothers-hijacked-south-africa-corruption-bribes