The case, The Gym Shoe Phenomenon: Social Values vs.
Marketing by Gail Baker University of Florida, is a case that pertains to a
situation where a certain minority felt as though Nike had mislead them and was
causing violence due to its marketing choices. The Code of Ethics that I felt
was appropriate was the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Member Code
of Ethics. This is because I am interested in doing public relations for a
sports related or athletic company. This code of ethics believes in advocacy,
honesty, expertise, independence, loyalty and fairness according to the PRSA
Code of Ethics website and can also be found from Chapter 2 Ethics Theory Application to Media from
Media Ethics.
This code
of ethics is helpful in evaluating the ethical considerations of this
particular case study pertaining to Nike because Nike was able to please its
critics going about the necessary public relations steps in order to, in a
sense perform, damage control. For Nike, the African-American community blamed
Nike for the violence that was occurring. They stated that violence was caused
that correlated with Nike shoes due to the fact that there were black athletes
are spokesperson and stated that Nike was advertising black superiority.
Additionally, they believed that Nike was encouraging black athletes to choose
sports over education by the advertising that they were choosing. The PRSA Code
of ethics highlights honesty, among other things, for the public. Nike tried to
explain that they believed that the two black athletes that they used as
advertisers, Bo Jackson Michael Jordan, are both family oriented people who
came from great backgrounds. Thus, it was never Nike’s intention to mislead the
black youth and encourage violence. Therefore, this also pertains to advocacy
that is in the code, which explains that public relations is able to voice “ideas,
facts, and viewpoints to aid informed public debate,” according to the PRSA
Member Code of Ethics website.
This code
of ethics is not helpful in that, what Nike did in the means of public
relations was to change the way the African-American community viewed Nike and
hope that they can gain them back as customers. In this instance, Nike chose to
use public relations in order to fix the opinions of the critics, instead of
actually fighting these beliefs and knowing that they were not in the wrong or
the cause of this violence. In a sense they almost humored them, in order to
loose customers. Yes, it worked out for them but at the same time, I am not
sure that they were ever to blame for the violence that had occurred. Instead,
it was just an easy fix for Nike because there are so many well-respected white
athletes that can represent Nike, as well.
Ethical
perspectives that we have covered in class and in readings help to show more
views on the considerations of the case. For example, in the reading from Chapter
1, Cases and Moral Systems by Deni
Elliot, the article states that one must learn when to reconcile and how or
when it is necessary to tolerate divergent point of views. In this case, Nike
did just that. They chose to accept the way that the African-American community
felt, and reconciled by changing the way they advertised and increasing their
African-American employee amount. Additionally, according to the reading Chapter
2 Ethics Theory Application to Media from
Media Ethics, ethical concerns are anything from the spokesperson used to the
message that is being portrayed. Thus, in this instance, although Nike may not
have seen anything wrong with using those two black athletes are their
spokesperson on those billboards, the community saw a different message being
portrayed than Nike had.
I thought
that this case was particularly helpful in that I learned that, although Nike
may not have been acting unethically according to many, it is better to silence
negative opinions and to please the consumer because that is what keeps the
business prestigious. I learned that it
is sometimes better for companies to just bite the bullet and do what is
necessary in order to keep the customers happy.
Work Cited:
blackboard -- Cases
and Moral Systems by Deni Elliot
Chapter 2 Ethics Theory
Application to Media Plaisance, PL. 2009 Media Ethics. Thousand Oaks, CA; Sagehttp://s185.photobucket.com/user/kymroseygooey/media/cool%20stuff/Air-Jordan-Logo-psd2918.png.html
http://www.nicekicks.com/2012/09/11/mache-discusses-the-custom-sneaker-movement-creative-process-his-start/
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