Responsibilities Essay, Research Paper
Almost every time one turns on the television he will see some sort of
advertisement. Shoes, cars, phone companies, and many other
products are advertised every day. We see all sorts of commercials
where the end is full of fine lines that are displayed so fast that one,
whom is not a speed reader, could never read it before it is taken off of
the screen. This leaves the viewer with only the knowledge of what he
saw in the commercial without the fine wording at the end. There are
also radio advertisements, billboards, and fliers containing false or
misleading advertisements. Is it fair that many of the advertisements
that businesses have today are misleading? No, this is not fair. I
believe that business?s have an ethical responsibility to society to be
honest, not misleading. Reasons that I believe this include: fairness
and moral obligation.
An ad on the television states that used cars can be bought for a
very small amount. This makes one want to run out and buy the car.
He goes to see the car. It looks and drives fine. The salesman says
that the car has had one owner, and had never had any problems. The
customer buys the car. A couple days later the car has some major
problems. With a little searching on the title, the owner found out the car
had been wrecked. This is not fair. It is not fair for advertisements or
salesmen to be misleading. This customer has officially been ?ripped
off?. This is not uncommon, How is one supposed to trust businesses
when they have been ?ripped off? and seen or heard of other people
being ripped off?
What ever happened to people that had morals that governed their
everyday life? Salesmen can look one straight in the eye, without even
flinching, and tell a bold faced lie. This is very wrong. Other people ?get
around? having to tell one a lie, For example, the car salesman
mentioned above was not asked if the car had been involved in an
accident. He did not exactly lie, but was morally incorrect. This is very
wrong. Businesses have a moral obligation to be honest. How can the
salesman let the customer drive away knowing that he ?ripped the
customer off?? Where are the morals? Or should I say, ?What are
morals??
In conclusion fairness and moral obligation are two reasons why
businesses have an ethical responsibility to society to be honest instead
of misleading. These days one can not even trust the advertisements
he sees. However, some customers do fall for the misleading ads.
One should be able to go buy a car without checking out the car?s
history or the salesman?s possible criminal record.