Pro Ethics

Advertisers and their agencies are frequently confronted with having to make ethical choices, which are often difficult, because they are not black or white. This presentation presents some of these challenging situations from a philosophical perspective. In addition, it covers: industry regulation; is advertising manipulative or misleading?; should potentially harmful products be advertised?

Great resource, Marcus. These are some classic examples for thinking through ethical issues in advertising. One of out talks for this week will be from Ogilvy & Mather's Vice Chairman, Rory Sutherland.

Creativity is not nearly so undervalued in the workplace and marketplace as it is in our systems of education. 

After viewing the discussion video for this week I thought that we should recognize and see how amazing this woman really was. She put her life in danger just to seek out the truth in Russia's corrupt government.

SFO suspected of soliciting up to $4 million from an estimated 80 investors.

Ponzi convict Bernard Madoff (center) told Barbara Walters that he feels remorse for his family, but downplayed the severity of his crimes regarding investors. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Ponzi convict Bernard Madoff has "terrible remorse" for having "ruined his family" but is "happier in prison" than he was on the outside, according to Barbara Walters of ABC, and downplays the severity of his crimes.

This article may not specifically talk about ethical issues. However, it is an example of a little thought I had. What if more ethical issues were taught/enforced in the work place? If people are learning the need to be ethical while they're at work around 8 hours a day, perhaps some of that will spill over into their every day lives and we may see less stories such as this. All be it in China. America has firms in China as well. We could be setting an example over there.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- A massive cyberattack that led to a vulnerability in RSA's SecurID tags earlier this year also victimized Google, Facebook, Microsoft and many other big-named companies, according to a new analysis released this week.

I think this is a good article concerning the health and safety of society. Mark Hyman is doing his duty as an author to help inform people about vitamins, which can be a confusing topic.

May Wang, who fronted a failed Chinese bid for the Crafar farm enterprise, has been charged with conspiring to bribe officials with properties and with laundering $150 million in crime proceeds.

Facebook could face a fine of up to €100,000 (£87,000) after an Austrian law student discovered the social networking site held 1,200 pages of personal data about him, much of which he had deleted.

Here's an insightful story revealing some of the connections between the US government and financial industry.

I suppose I'm a little biased when it comes to the Invisible Children, but I truly believe Obama made the right decision in trying to help free the child soldiers from Joseph Kony by sending in troops to help form a plan to capture Kony. I know there are many people who are outraged and flabbergasted as to why our country is doing this, but I think a large part of that is because they don't fully understand everything that's going on. If you really want to know more, invisiblechildren.com they explain everything.

WILLISTON, N.D. (CNNMoney) -- As oil companies pump more and more crude out of the ground and workers from around the country arrive to cash in on the black gold rush, a new wave of crime has taken over the once quiet towns of Northwestern North Dakota.

Is it okay to found your company based on somewhat truth's, or even straight up lies?

During their start-up days, many Inc. 500 CEOs tell half-truths to win over customers, while others tell outright lies. A look at the ethical difference between posturing and overt deception. To grow their Inc. 500 companies, some bootstrappers engaged in an astounding amount of embellishment.

Susan Kalla, a well-known and widely quoted Wall Street stock analyst who accurately predicted the collapse of the telecommunications equipment sector in 2000, was fired by Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group Inc. after an internal investigation into her personal stock trading, according to sources inside and outside the company with knowledge of the matter.

A sales technique based on listening to the customer and helping them acheive their needs and goals.

An amusing anecdote about how listening to the customer can help with the sale.

McDonald's currently spends more money on advertising in general than any other brand in all industries combined, helping it replace Coca-Cola as the world's most famous brand, according to "Fast Food Nation" author Eric Schlosser.

Ask your mother, or rely on scientific studies, consumer reports and trial and error

Article on how advertising has an impact on the way children develop and grow up.