Big Mac Under Attack: The Ethics in Advertising Fast Food - Essay Example

Executive Summary This paper analyzes the case study Big Mac under attack: a big fat problem with health and nutrition. It assesses the ethical dilemma by using the American Accounting Association model and suggests the right course of action as stated in the facts of the case. It highlights the ethical consideration i.e. Ethics in Advertising and relates it back to the case provided with an attempt to deeply explore the issues related to ethical use of advertising with particular reference to McDonald's. Big Mac under attack The ethical dilemma is analyzed using the American Accounting Association model. The facts of the case; McDonald's was accused of offering an unhealthy menu, insufficient nutritional information, and promoting its unhealthy choices directed towards children. It tried to fight off this perception by projecting a healthier face through advertisement, sponsoring sports programs, healthier menus and acquiring stake in healthy food chains. Ethical issues in the case; Whether or not McDonald's should promote its unhealthy menu, hide nutritional information and deceive consumers by advertising a health conscious face. In doing so, it will mislead consumers, can be penalized under consumer protection laws and taint its brand image. The norms, principles and values are that McDonald's is respected for its commitment to corporate social responsibility. Nickels, McHugh J. & McHugh S. (2003) have reported McDonald's as the most admired company in food services industry. Consumers trust McDonald's and expect high ethical standards from it. If McDonald's continues to deceive its consumers it will betray its loyal consumers. Alternative courses of actions; Option1, to continue deceiving its customers by selling the same menu hidden under healthy perceptions or Option2, commit to rolling out unhealthy food items gradually, introducing healthy foods and lower fat and calorie content of current offerings. The best course of action is to commit to health consciousness at strategic level and bring about meaningful changes. Consequences of each option; Option1, McDonald's will keep selling its unhealthy food in guise of healthy food, enjoy short term increase in revenue but risk its corporate image, consumer's trust and long term prospects. Option2, McDonald's is likely to jeopardize its core business as its burger loving consumers might switch to competitors and its strategic shift will be criticized by stake holders. It will save company repute and win long term customers. The ethical decision is Option2. McDonald's should offer healthier foods. Ethics in Advertising From this case an important ethical consideration is raised i.e. Ethics in Advertising. The compact oxford English dictionary (2005) defines ethics as a set of principles that influence conduct. These principles are derived from norms and values of society. The motivation to adhere to ethics comes from societal expectations of behavior and legislative compliance. "Advertising is any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor" (Kotler et al. ,2008, p486). Advertising is carried out to inform the customers and prospects about products, persuade them to buy a product or believe in offered values, remind them to create a brand recall and reinforce desired behavior and perceptions (Kotler et al. 2008, p487). As demonstrated in the case McDonald's was seen to initially promote its supersized meals to consumers through use of advertisements and in-house promotions. Such advertisements were directed towards children to influence current and future behavior. "Sales promotion is some sort of inducement" (Cravens & Piercy, 2005, p.354). It is imperative to note here that McDonald's has used extensive inducements through advertising campaigns showing Ronald McDonald with children. It builds the perception of a fun filled experience for these young impressionable minds and entices them with fancy little limited editions of Mac toys available with happy meals. The question that arises is even if such advertisements are legal, can they be deemed ethical' Belch, G.E. & Belch M.A. (2003) report that children are vulnerable to advertisements as they lack skills to critically evaluate advertisement claims or differentiate between programs and advertisements altogether. It is also an established fact that advertisements aimed at children are aimed to build lifelong impacts on their purchase decisions and add them to the future pool of loyal customers. Moreover, McDonald's did not provide sufficient information about nutritional values of its burgers and therefore concealed information that could have altered the purchase decisions of parents. Obesity is a rising health problem in US and much of Europe. McDonald's and other fast food chains should be responsible enough to report the facts of their offerings. It is an essential part of observing ethics in advertising that facts should be integrated into advertisements and other forms of communications. Promotions that involve any form of deception are deemed as unfair trade practices (Kotler et al. 2008, p493). Therefore, even if under the legal statures advertisements of such kind are allowed it is the responsibility of management and advertisement agencies to confirm to appropriate societal ethical standards. After a direct attack by "Super-Size Me" on its core business McDonald's reverted to save its image and advocated its turnaround strategies. By dropping supersized options, introducing healthier items on menu and acquiring minority stake in Pret A Manger it tried to project its conscientious effort towards a healthier McDonald's. As stated in the case it launched an expensive and huge advertisement campaign: 'McDonald's but not as you know it' placing billboards and visual cues in brochures including close-ups of salads and fruits. However, I side with its critics and see it as a deception strategy rooted in its advertisements. Creating only a perception of the fact that McDonald's has become healthier so that consumers do not feel bad for eating at McDonald's or stop their children from eating at McDonald's. No wonder its Chicken Caesar salad tested out to have more fat and calories than its notorious hamburger. It was later that McDonald's responded to this problem and introduced a lowered calorie salad dressing for this salad. Though the question again to consider is that if McDonald's was actually pursuing its tall claims of healthiness how did a high fat and calorie content salad dressing make its way into their new salad offering' The answer is obvious that McDonald's efforts were only on the perceptual level to make a fool out of its consumers through its effective Advertising and promotions mix. If it had been pursuing any serious efforts towards a healthier McDonalds at the strategic level such a blunder would have been impossible. This communicates to that McDonald's was not monitoring its processes for calorie and fat reduction. This is why its response was reactive and not proactive towards calorie cutting. Marketing and its key component i.e. Advertising is a game of juggling perceptions. McDonald's has done so too but for an unethical cause i.e. to divulge the facts of its product offerings. Any company that divulges the facts of its products to turnaround sales or encourages purchases misleads consumers and is in essence unethical. As seen in the case McDonald's is seen to reinforce its commitment to healthier activities by launching exercise campaigns and prompting youth to be active. It has been supporting health claims by extending menu to include salads, grilled chicken, flat breads, porridge, option to replace fries with carrot sticks and more. It has been doing this for one reason that is increase repetition of the perception that McDonald's has become health conscious. "Repetition increases our familiarity with a claim. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, a feeling of greater likelihood that the claim is true begins to accompany the growing familiarity. This effect of repetition is known as the truth effect" (Sutherland & Sylvester, 2000, p.10). As the rule of advertising states that slowly but surely a message that is repeated through subliminal or communicative means gets fixated in our perception. A time come that familiarity of the concept propagated to us through advertisements becomes so substantial that we are likely to consider the proposed perception as the true benefits of the product. This is exactly what McDonald's aimed to achieve through these means. To play with the human mind and its perceptions in such a way through advertising is an ethical consideration in itself. However, the alarming consideration is that companies can use the same tools to divert our minds from the facts surrounding them. They can use them to manipulate our behavior to suit their needs rather than align their behavior to meet the objectives set by society and law. Spurlock, (2005) says that big corporations of the likes of McDonald's are adept at marketing and publicity. They only care about what's good for customers when it is good for their business. The truth is that many companies tell white lies in business. Its acceptability within the organization itself depends upon the organization's standards of ethical versus unethical. These ethical beliefs of organizations influence the individual beliefs of its employees. However, employees' categorization of ethics can vary from organization's categorization of ethical behavior (Sims, 2003, p. 99). Therefore, marketing departments of organizations need to stimulate their ethical consideration and revalue them. Moreover, these revalued beliefs should be channeled into their communications, promotions and advertisements. When advertising an individual employee, a manager and a department must evaluate the credentials of their claims. They should ask themselves; how true is what we are communicating' Can we deliver what we have promised' Are there facts and information that we are divulging or hiding' These questions can help to solve ethical dilemmas in business and advertising. Unless an organization instills these beliefs within it, these beliefs will not show in its advertisements and promotions. Referring back to the case unless McDonald's changes its definition of business ethics its advertising mix will not deliver ethical values nor adhere to them. I as a critic do not see any truthfulness in its advertisements because McDonald's has not lived up to its claims. It has not made any meaningful changes to its model as the bulk of its sales still come from burgers, fries and colas ordered by customers. If its management had believed in changing they would have focused in increasing revenue from the new healthier product line extensions included on the menu. A company with the publicity and advertising potential such as McDonald's can realize such goals if it seriously pursues them. If it had wholeheartedly advertised the healthier foods they would have been a considerable part of its sales revenue. It can be seen that McDonald's is using its advertising power to deceive its customers because it has not provided the value of healthier food it promised. This can be directly compared to the effective ethical use of advertising by another company i.e. Volvo. Volvo used its advertising strategy and repetition techniques to build its image as the safe car. Although it shaped our perceptions as customers it also lived to deliver the value promised i.e. safety. Therefore, as Volvo lived up to its promise it reinforced its perception as a safe car. Therefore, Volvo's ethical standards in business and advertisements can be viewed as truthful and delivering what they promise. Companies should imitate Volvo's example towards ethical perception building and promotions. The customer in the new economy is more aware and knowledgeable then customers in previous eras. Customers today cannot be misled for long, especially when a company's product fail to provide the value its advertisements create. Even though McDonald's sales in US have come up, it is in profits and share price has increased the same is not true about it in Europe. The case study states that McDonald's had to close 25 stores in UK alone. Further research proves that McDonald's is struggling in Europe and is therefore trying to focus on the healthier origin of its products. For example, in Italy it is stressing on Italian origin of products, freshness and lightness of its food in Italy and with releasing press releases stressing its orientation towards healthy foods in the Italian market. (Big Mac under attack words: 307) (ethics in advertising words:1588) Conclusion Ethics in advertising stem from a company's orientation towards business ethics. If a company has poor understanding of societal expectations and legal compliance towards ethics, its advertising and promotions would display the same. If a company has deep rooted set of organizational ethics they will show in its advertisements and promotions. Moreover in the contemporary environment ethical marketing in advertisements is necessary. The consumers today cannot be fooled for long. Deceiving consumers through advertising can only reap short term benefits. For longer term viability companies need to deliver the set of values their advertisements promise and promotions communicate. Bibliography Belch, G.E. & Belch M.A. (2003) Advertising & Promotions an integrated marketing communications perspective. 6th ed. New Jersey, McGraw Hill/Irwin. Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English (2005) 3rd ed. Oxford, Clarendon. Cravens, D.W. & Piercy, N.F. (2005) Strategic Marketing. 8th ed. New York, McGraw Hill/Irwin David, C. (2008) Ethical Decision Making. http://www.accaglobal.com/pubs/students/ publications/student_accountant/archive/sa_mar08_campbell.pdf Kotler, P. et al. (2008) Marketing Management a south Asian approach 13th ed. New Delhi, Prentice Hall. Nickels, S. W., McHugh J. & McHugh S. (2003) Understanding Business .7th ed. New Jersey, Irwin/McGraw Hill Sims, R. R. (2003) Ethics& Corporate Social Responsibility; why giants fall. California, Greenword Publishing Group. Spurlock, M. (2005) The Truth about McDonald's and Children. http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0522-20.htm Sutherland, M. & Sylvester A.K. (2000) Advertising and Mind of Consumer. 2nd ed. South Australia, Allen & Unwin. Read More