Breaches of Ethics

     When it comes to making money, companies will do virtually anything to get ahead and make money. Risky advertisements, misleading content, and deceptive promotions are all things that can be used to make gain in the company, but is the risk worth the reward? There is a fine line between pushing the truth and making a false claim, and many companies have lost millions for crossing the line. Red Bull, Kelloggs, and New Balance are three examples of companies who stretched the truth a little too far and are facing the consequences. 
    When it comes to getting the wrong info, there are two ways to look at it.  Misinformation refers to false or out-of-context information that is presented as fact regardless of an intent to deceive. This is somewhat an accident, false information spread by mistake. Disinformation is knowingly spreading misinformation. This is the hard stuff, a blatant lie that companies will spread simply for their own personal gain. Either way, false information is being used, but ultimately disinformation proves to be worse as it is the purposeful distribution of this false information.

    Red Bull is an example of a company who misinformed their consumers with their catch phrase of all things. For years, RedBull has claimed to give you wings. In 2014, they faced a lawsuit for their slogan and ended up settling with a 13 million dollar pay out and 10 dollars to each US consumer who had bought a drink since 2002. Red Bull was claiming to serve a drink that could improve the buyer's concentration, but had no real proof for this claim. Beganin Caraethers, a regular consumer of the product, sued the company based off the fact that in 10 years of consumption he has seen no improvements to his physical or intellectual abilities. The energy drink manufacturer decided to settle, but still maintained to make truthful and accurate marketing claims, which ultimately contradicts their reason to settle but if your slogan works, it works.

    Kellogs is another company who was caught in a lie, as they claimed to have a cereal to boost your immune system. Their cereal, Rice Krispies was in a crisis in 2010 as they were misleading consumers about the brand's immunity-boosting properties.  Stating their vitamins and antioxidants were doing the trick, the Federal Trade Commission ordering a halt on this false advertising. The next year the company just decided to settle and avoid an upset by paying 2.5 million dollars to affected consumers and donating another 2.5 million to charity. Ultimately, this reveal of misinformation was fairly unnecessary as it is ultimately believed that cereal for children is not healthy at all, so I am no really sure what they were trying to accomplish with this misinformation, but it seems as if they believed it would make a difference. 

    Misinformation is an excellent representation of the fact that companies will do virtually anything to get on top, even if it means lying to the consumer. It is a risky game of if the consequence is worth the reward and multiple large companies are willing to take the gamble. However, it doesn't always pay off in the long run as many companies have found themselves in sticky situations facing lawsuits and having to rebuild their brand. One of the main things necessary for a company is the trust built between the company and their consumers, when misinformation is involved, this trust is broken and the company has to make their climb back.