Marketing the product in a manner that is ethical and according to rules and regulations as set by the relevant framework and code of ethics is a key aspect of communication. Ethical standards are set with regards to the times we live in, cigarette advertising is banned in current times, however, the marketing communication of the Marlboro Man is etched in our memories.
The ethical standards are primarily set by the companies themselves as per their products and services and it is followed to avoid any misleading messages and influencing the consumers in an unethical manner, sectors such as pharmaceutical, fast food and cosmetics are prone to such misleading claims.
Bu Light 'Up for Whatever' Campaign:
The Bud Light campaign is a prime example of marketing tactics gone wrong, since the campaigns offensive promotional tagline label on the bottle made light of the notorious issue of rape in general and its historic connotation with beer.
The primary communication intent of the ‘Up for whatever’ campaign was to create light hearted message labels that borders on camaraderie of a friends night out, with a care free and spontaneous attitude.
The tag line label that sent the moral police into frenzy was ‘The perfect beer for removing ‘no’, from your vocabulary for the night’.
All the major magazines and voices condemned the slogan as a bad attempt, since it trivialized a very serious issue in manner that leaned more towards the predatory rape culture as commented by Carly (2015), in her Entrepreneur article.
The regulatory authority such as the American Marketing Association have set guidelines in their statement of ethics (2016) with regards to values and norms that needs to be followed to be able to avoid any ethical issues, since such issues impacts the brand value in a very negative manner affecting the brands image.
The criteria clearly focus on the fact that the marketers need not only focus on the message showcasing the organization but also help in creating a positive impact on the society in general that includes the internal and external stakeholders from all walks of life.
The guidelines shared by AMA includes, Ethical Norms, that needs to be taken into account by the marketers such as to prevent any harm, foster trust in marketing system and embrace ethical values. The tagline of Bud Light crosses the limit for not embracing values and affecting the feeling of the consumer’s i.e. external stakeholder.
The Ethical Values shared by AMA includes honesty, responsibility, fairness, respect, transparency and citizenship, in view of the crass communication, the tone of the tagline comes under violating the ethical value, respect.
It is clearly stated by AMA that respect entails basic dignity of the stakeholders and with the tone of the communication encouraging rape the communication is negative and derogatory.
The negative impact of the marketing campaign was an instant one with a series of tweets and messages of the consumers making round of the digital world, considering the fact that we are living in a digital media culture, any mistake done is amplified globally in a matter of minutes.
The criticism was from all quarters, not just from the consumers, Nita Lowey, a Democratic congresswoman from New York, also endorsed the general public view of the communication being “grossly shortsighted” (Victoria, 2015).
Drinking has always been associated with many social issues that include, accidents due to drunk driving and date rape, and the tagline just bordered on insensitivity at its max.
The approval process of a marketing campaign involved several checks and balances and the writer feels that the process missed its mark greatly, as evidently pointed out by Daniel Bukszpan (2015) in his article in the Fortune that, it is astounding to note that how the campaign “could make way through 155,000 employees without being pointed out as a bad idea.
It has to be noted that the campaign also signifies the fact that despite being a two year endeavor, Bud Light missed the mark once that in essence diluted the positive and light hearted banter that was the premise of the labels.
The parent company Anheuser-Busch Inbev, released a statement stating that out of the 140 label slogan used only one missed the mark and they are sorry, this is simply not enough in view of the negative energy that surrounds the brand.
In this digital age, social media needs to be used at its fullest potential by the marketing team of Bud Light to create positive PR with the consumers and the public in general.
Brand activation i.e. connecting with the consumers on one to one basis by creating a social campaign that denounce date rape and create a good feel factor for the brand, celebrity endorsement can also be taken as a short term step to endorse the feeling of the company as being sorry for the mishap being announced by a known and relevant celebrity.
The marketing team needs to create slogans and labels that are small in terms of wordings and are not diabolical in terms of meaning, the controversial label #UpforWhatever needs to be changed to #UpforWhateverResponsibily.
References
American Marketing Association (2016). Statement of Ethics. AMA Publishing. Retrieved from https://archive.ama.org/archive/AboutAMA/Pages/Statement%20of%20Ethics.aspx
Carly, O. (2015, Apr 28). Bud Light's Lighthearted 'Up for Whatever' Campaign Takes a Dark Turn. Entrepreneur. Retrieved from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/245608
Daniel, B. (2015, Apr 2). What was Bud Light thinking? Consumers keep ‘no’ in their vocabulary. Fortune. Retrieved from http://fortune.com/2015/04/29/bud-light-up-for- whatever/
Victoria, R. (2015, Apr 29). Bud Light Apologises for ‘pro-rape’ advertising campaign. Independent Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/bud- light- apologises-for-pro-rape-advertising-campaign-10212332.html
