Daniel Josef M. Aloroy                                                                                    03.04.08

ITETHIC                                                                                                           O0B

Book Review on Business Ethics, Third Edition

Carmelita Miranda-Gow

Gregorio S. Miranda

CHAPTER 8: AN INSIDIOUS INSTRUMENT FOR THE USE OF MONOPOLY POWER

            Most countries are now engaged in discovering alternative sources of energy. For example, the United States has been learning to live on less oil, “liquid gold” as it is sometimes called, ever since Arab oil-producing countries restricted sales to the United States market toward the end of 1973. Unlike most countries, the United States is placed on a fortunate circumstance in having an abundant supply of oil, gas, coal, water, power and uranium for nuclear power. However, its basic problem has been that the demand for non-polluting and cheap energy has outrun available domestic supplies. For its part, the Philippines is using geothermal power for harnessing and using energy to lessen its dependencies on oil.

            The inability of some countries to produce their own products may have caused some of the powerful corporations or even smaller companies to withhold some of their resources to other people. They tend to manipulate the production and distribution of their products so some of the market cannot reach it.  Instead of helping out each other reach their economic stability, the societies are affected by cartel, patent and monopoly of these other corporations. We changed some of our practices in order to adapt to the alternative sources we have been utilizing.

CHAPTER 9: UNETHICAL AND QUESTIONABLE PRACTICES

            Because of the important role played by brands in marketing, even in casual visit to any supermarket will give ample evidence that marketing today involves a “battle of the brands”. There is nothing basically wrong with a battle of brands notwithstanding the criticism that it leads to competitive waste. What is wrong, immoral and unethical, is for some businessman to misbrand their products, more so, to imitate the brands of well-known products – a common occurrence in this country and perhaps many other countries of Asia. Perhaps, one plausible reason is that we are brand-conscious. Thus, we hear it said often that some T-shirts manufactured in this country clandestinely carry the brand “Fila”, and “Lacoste”, and belts carry the popular brands “CD”, “YSL”, and “PC” which stand for Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Cardin, respectively but which unfortunately are nothing but imitations of the genuine ones. Such misbranding evidently is intended to deceive consumers.

            Imitations are already on the loose even from the previous decades. It tends to deceive consumers on what is the real or original product. Most of the time, the consumers already know that the brand they bought is not really the original, buying it for the reason of being able to buy the similar product at a much cheaper price.  While the others only realize it when they reach their homes and definitely get disappointed of the fact that they have got the wrong brand.

CHAPTER 10: ADVERTISING IN OUR MODERN SOCIETY

            The following incident involves a recent case of deceptive advertising. As published in the newspapers, a Manhattan Supreme Court Justice ruled that Christian Dior Company should never again use an ad that shows a model looking like Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Justice Greenfield said, “No one has an inherent constitutional right to pass himself off for what he is not”.

            Mrs. Onassis had sued Christian Dior and Company for violation of her privacy.

            This decision can have far reaching effects on the advertising world. How many products try to show that they are used by this minister or that business tycoon by having look-alikes in the visuals?

            Which leads us to a Lady’s Choice’s “instant fried rice” package. Just simply reading the front of the pack, you get the positive impression that all you have to do is add four cups of rice and lo! You have fried rice with strips of eggs and shrimps, etc. On closer look at the back of the pack, you see in fine print that you have to sauté  shrimps, fry the eggs and other ingredients and then add the rice and then the powder mixture. “Hindi naman tama yan” claims the writer of the article.

            There have been so many times already when an advertisement on the television, print, and radio has made the wrong impression on the public. These advertisers serve up the wrong attributes of a product when in fact, it is really not supposed to be that way.