Ethics Final Project

Scenario: You are a board member of the American Advertising Association (AAA). You have been asked to be part of a special investigative team to review current situations regarding public relations (PR) and ethical challenges recently in the news. You've been given background articles to read on 9 cases: Domino's, Taco Bell, White House, Amazon, Facebook, Starbucks, Burger King, and Motrin. You want to read all of them!



However, you only want to choose 4 of them to perform a detailed analysis on. The AAA will use your analysis, both what you say was done correctly as it applies to current ethical standards and what you say was done incorrectly as applied to those same ethical standards. Your recommendations for improvement will be used as the foundation for a seminar on Ethical Responses in Crisis Management for AAA members.



Problem: Focusing on the 4 cases you will use for your analysis, be very specific and detailed in your responses using what you know about the cases, what you know about ethics, and what you know about marketing/advertising. Use specific examples to support your arguments. You may need to do some additional research to fully solve the problem. (Please cite whatever additional information you use.)



1. Define the specific problems confronting the company and the ethical concerns that are involved.

2. Discuss in detail what strategies and tactics need to be done in order to solve the problem. (Pay close attention to the details in the articles. What a company spokesperson may or may not say will give you insights.)

3. What was the company's response to the problem? Was is the ethical response? Was it the correct or incorrect response? What supports your views on these questions?

4. What specific strategies and tactics would you have recommended to fix the problem(s)? Is your recommendation the same or similar to what was done? If so, explain why it was the best solution. If different, support your ideas and explain why you think your ideas would work.



Procedure: Type your responses discussing 1 case at a time. (Please indicate which case you are responding to.) Use a legible font 10-12 point. Watch your grammar, spelling and punctuation. Source all your quotes and references where applicable.



NOTE: Check back for information on hard copy hand-in of this final project as well as a small oral presentation in class on Thursday, May 7th. Details to come shortly!!



Secret Information: You just found out that the team member with the best substantiated and thought out report will be asked to head the White House Dept. of Business Integrity with a starting salary of $256,000/year. And, your work will be studied by other professionals in the field!