Unethical Marketing

Ever been spammed ? Bought something that looks or is nothing like it was advertised ? Or felt terrible about yourself after watching an Ad(Tama,2019) ? All of these are forms of unethical Marketing.

Lets start with spam, so what exactly is spam ? According to sso.agc.gov.sg , “unsolicited commercial communications sent in bulk by electronic mail or by text or multi-media messaging to mobile telephone numbers, and to provide for matters connected therewith.”. In general, if the recipient did not consent or contacting consumers without consent, it is considered as spam! Some spam examples are advertisements, fake virus warnings and charity appeals and even chain emails! Ever received an email from a Nigerian prince asking for money so he can save his country ? That’s a spam! Thanks to the Spam Control Act, it is illegal to send spams in Singapore but there are ways to get around it. Firms usually disguise their spams as vouchers or discounts and but you have to give consent in order to redeem the voucher or discount.

Another form of unethical marketing is when marketeers purposely incite controversy by presenting ideas, shunned ideas just to get people emotional so they can get attention. these types of advertisements are not all illegal but they almost always backfire. An example would be the firm Ashley Madison . The firm tried to promote infidelity with their tagline “Life is short, Have an affair”. Although infidelity is not a crime, it constitutes one of the grounds for divorce(Huang,2014). Even though it is not illegal, their website which they primary operates on was removed and banned in Singapore (Sim,2013).

What are your thoughts unethical marketing ? Should there be a set of principals whereby marketeers have to abide by ? Should the person that paid for the ad be held responsible ? Is there an advertisement that made you feel uncomfortable? Do let me know in the comments.

references

• SIM, W., 2013. MDA Bans Extra-Marital Dating Website Ashley Madison. [online] The Straits Times. Available at: <https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/mda-bans-extra-marital-dating-website-ashley-madison&gt; [Accessed 27 March 2020].
• Huang, E., 2014. Ashley Madison CEO Talks Life After Ban In Singapore, South Korea | E27. [online] e27. Available at: <https://e27.co/ashley-madison-ceo-talks-life-after-ban-in-singapore-south-korea-20140619/&gt; [Accessed 27 March 2020].
• Tama, K., 2019. Council Post: How To Draw The Line On Unethical Marketing. [online] Forbes. Available at: <https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2019/06/24/how-to-draw-the-line-on-unethical-marketing/#3143c8d55736&gt; [Accessed 27 March 2020].