Ethics - PRNewser

Marketed to Adults, but Hurting Kids? FDA Launches Investigation Into Foods With Added Caffeine

Elizabeth S. Mitchell — Mon, 06 May 2013 12:07:24 +0000

Once upon a time, when a person needed a morning jump-start or a midday pick-me-up, they reached for a cup of coffee. These days, though, coffee has some serious competition; weary folks can now choose from an array of amped-up foodstuffs, including gum, concentrated energy shots, candy, and even caffeinated Cracker Jacks.

Michael Taylor, the FDA‘s deputy commissioner of foods, said that the only time the FDA explicitly approved the practice of adding caffeine to a food or drink was in the 1950s when it allowed the stimulant to be included in cola. The current prevalence of caffeine-filled foods is “beyond anything FDA envisioned,” Taylor said. “It is disturbing…We’re concerned about whether they have been adequately evaluated.”

The governing body is especially concerned when it comes to the effects of such foods on children; while kids aren’t likely to seek out a boring cup of joe, they may be more apt to grab a bag of jolt-inducing jelly beans. The American Academy of Pediatrics has linked caffeine to harmful effects on young people’s still-developing neurological and cardiovascular systems. So, while the FDA is already investigating the safety of energy drinks and energy shots (thanks to consumer reports of illness and death), the organization has decided to go a step further and look specifically at the foods’ effects on children.

Companies that manufacture and market caffeinated foods say that their products are intended for — and marketed to — adults. Wrigley, which recently released Alert Energy Gum (40 milligrams of caffeine per piece), pointed out that packages of the gum are labeled “for adult use only.” A spokesperson for the company said, “Millions of Americans consume caffeine responsibly and in moderation as part of their daily routines.”

While that may be, critics say it’s not enough for companies to say they are marketing the products to adults, who are capable of making more informed decisions about the amount of caffeine they consume, when the foods themselves are clearly attractive (and readily available) to children. In a letter to the FDA, Michael Jacobson, director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said of such foods: “One serving of any of these foods isn’t likely to harm anyone. The concern is that it will be increasingly easy to consume caffeine throughout the day, sometimes unwittingly, as companies add caffeine to candies, nuts, snacks and other foods.”

In acknowledgement that the consumption of one caffeinated item may not cause adverse effects, the probe will focus on the effects of added caffeine in its totality, and whether the increasing number of caffeinated products on the market might mean more adverse health effects for children.

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What’s the Public’s F*#king Deal with Profanity?

James F. Thompson — Wed, 01 May 2013 13:00:16 +0000

The most compelling aspect of public relations is that the public keeps changing. Our attitudes toward everything in life from sexuality to profanity constantly evolve, and this makes understanding the public more of an art than a science.

Philips Norelco knows this. That’s why the razor brand took a slight risk in dropping a bleeped-out F-bomb in its most recent commercial, “I’d Date Me.” Regardless of your moral compass, we think it’s pretty funny. (Watch the video above and see if you agree.)

Perhaps what Philips Norelco knows is that there is nothing funnier than absurdity, and there is nothing more absurd than thinking bleeping out a bad word will spare anyone from knowing what word is being smothered. It’s not like these commercials are being aired on Nickelodeon.

Saying a profane word makes us listen to it, but bleeping out a profane word makes us say it in our own heads. As PR people, we can’t help but wonder if there will ever be a day when the F-bomb becomes mainstream enough to be pronounced unmolested.

Is the public ready for profanity, or are those words still too offensive?

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Porn Site Devoted to Charity Launches with Strong Mission Statement and New Promo

Elizabeth S. Mitchell — Wed, 01 May 2013 12:30:01 +0000

We know sex sells, and we’ve seen non-profits from PETA to the American Public Health Association use provocative tactics to garner attention and raise money, but porn website Come4.org is hoping to corner the market on the idea of being bad to do a little good.

The adult website, which describes itself as “the first user-generated, nonprofit pornography site devoted to funding charitable and ethically driven projects” is being unveiled with the help of Being, the Paris office of ad agency TBWA. The agency created a 90-second promotional video called “The Lover”, which introduces the world to Come4′s first charitable initiative—helping to fund the Asta Philpot Foundation, which is committed to raising public awareness about the sexual rights of disabled people.

Come4 describes its mission and intentions this way:

“‘Sex’ is the top word searched on the Internet. With nearly billions of yearly revenues, the sex industry is one of the greatest markets online. Unfortunately, it is also one of the less ethical and transparent ones…

The prevailing model is finalized to business, and thus it systematically aims at subjugating our sexual imagination to marketing standards. As a result, instead of reflecting the natural plurality of human sexuality, much of today’s online sexual contents foster a one-dimensional perspective which is often fake, violent, macho-centered, and in many cases barely legal. We believe that we, as a self-aware community, can do better than this, and that time has come to rethink critically the relationship of online pornography and society.

With Come4 we aim to ignite a new sexual revolution, one that has at its core people instead of money, respect for diversity instead of uniformity, and solidarity instead of selfishness. Our goal is to devolve at least 1 percent of the total revenue of the online sex industry to support ethical causes aimed at defending and promoting sexual rights. Provided no one is harmed and that everything is legal, is there any reason why these revenues cannot be used for better ends?’

We never thought the mission statement of a porn website would have us wanting to cheer, but…dare we say it…Huzzah! This is some seriously well-crafted branding; the company manages to describe exactly what’s wrong with its own industry, and then explain with earnest precisely how it plans to overcome and redefine the meaning and purpose of that business. We are, despite ourselves, impressed.

What do you think, readers? Is this something you could get behind (no pun intended), or is this mission statement the equivalent of a phenomenal political speech given by another smooth-talking-but-no-different-from-the-rest candidate?

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After Initial Denial, ‘Benetton’ Addresses Evidence Tying it to Bangladesh Garment Factory Tragedy

Elizabeth S. Mitchell — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:04:58 +0000

Benetton is an Italian fashion line known for its social activism, including its creation of The UNHATE Foundation, which, according to its website, “seeks to contribute to the creation of a new culture against hate, building on Benetton’s underpinning values.”

Those “underpinning values”, however, are being questioned in light of the company’s denial that it had any ties to the garment factory in Savar, Bangladesh, that collapsed last week, tragically killing at least 377 people. The company tweeted on April 24: “In reference to the tragic news on the collapse of the building in Bangladesh, Benetton Group wants to clarify that none of the companies involved are suppliers to Benetton Group or any of its brands.” .

Since then, however, strong evidence suggesting Benetton clothing was being manufactured at the factory (known as Rana Plaza) has been uncovered. Photos taken of the rubble by the Associated Press and Agence France-Presse clearly show shirts with “United Colors of Benetton” labels. Also, one of the manufacturers that had been based at the factory, New Wave Bottoms, lists Benetton as a client, and labor rights activists said they found documents linking Benetton to the factory while they were digging through the debris.

In light of this hard-to-ignore evidence, the company released a statement on April 29, which said: “A one-time order was completed and shipped out of one of the manufacturers involved several weeks prior to the accident. Since then, this subcontractor has been removed from our supplier list.”

While Benetton is far from the only big-name company connected to Rana Plaza (Wal-Mart, Ireland’s Primark, and Canada’s Joe Fresh all made clothing there), the company’s dedication to social activism — coupled with its initial denial — seem to be making it a prime target for public ire. continued…

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Hyundai Apologizes for Ad Depicting Suicide Attempt

Elizabeth S. Mitchell — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 11:00:04 +0000

For the second time this month, a company is apologizing for making light of suicide in their advertizing. While these unapproved McDonald’s posters were distasteful and insensitive, Hynudai’s “Pipe Job” spot, which actually depicts a failed suicide attempt, takes the decidedly un-funny joke to an entirely different level.

The ad shows a man attempting to end his life with carbon monoxide poisoning by breathing the exhaust of a new Hyundai. The joke’s on him, though; the car’s emissions are so clean, he lives to see another day.

Yeah. We’re not laughing, either.

In fact, because some of us have immediate family members who have suffered with depression and have attempted suicide, we just can’t muster our usual “lighten up” attitude for this one — it’s just plain offensive (and potentially harmful). There is ample data showing that careless depictions of suicide can actually cause more suicides to occur. And this ad not only depicts a pretty detailed blue-print for how to kill yourself, but it also neglects to show any evidence of the impact that this man’s actions would have on others, or suggest that there is any kind of help available to him.

A spokesman for Hyundai told Forbes via email that the video was created in Europe by a European agency (Innocean Europe), and said that Hyundai Motor North America was not involved in any way in its production or posting. He also passed on the following statement from Hyundai Europe:

“We understand that some people may have found the iX35 video offensive. We are very sorry if we have offended anyone. We have taken the video down and have no intention of using it in any of our advertising or marketing.”

Hyundai North America has since publicly issued the following statement:

We at Hyundai Motor America are shocked and saddened by the depiction of a suicide attempt in an inappropriate UK video featuring a Hyundai. Suicide merits thoughtful discussion, not this type of treatment.

While we do feel that this apology and the decision to pull the ad were appropriate damage-control responses, we are a little surprised the ad made it that far in the first place without someone somewhere along the line saying, “gee, guys, it’s clever and all, but this goes quite a bit too far”. Mental illness is still a fairly taboo subject in many respects, and those suffering from it often feel too ashamed to talk openly about what they are going through or to seek help. We don’t see ads making light of other life-threatening disabilities, so why is depression any different?

On principle, we weren’t honestly sure we even wanted to include the video in this post, but realized readers would likely want to see what we’re talking about. The ad is below the jump, but we personally found it disturbing enough to suggest you use discretion before viewing.

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Perdue Faces Class Action Lawsuit Over Dubious ‘Humane’ Claims

Elizabeth S. Mitchell — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 11:48:38 +0000

The latest PR battle over food labeling comes right on the heels of our coverage of the controversy surrounding common and often meaningless labels like “natural” and “farm fresh” — and our speculation about whether related PR wars could eventually lead to more accountability and, in the long run, healthier products.

A federal court in New Jersey has cleared the way for a class action lawsuit against the nation’s third-largest poultry producer, Perdue Farms, Inc., over the company’s alleged false advertising of factory farmed chicken products as “humane.”

The suit, which was filed by two members of The Humane Society of the United States on behalf of consumers, alleges that Perdue is illegally marketing chicken products as “Humanely Raised” in violation of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act.

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Could the Continuing Food Label PR Wars Lead to Healthier Products?

Elizabeth S. Mitchell — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 15:13:51 +0000

When we hear the words “deceptive marketing”, we generally think of campaigns that promote the blatantly false or grossly exaggerated “benefits” of a product (i.e. the butt-sculpting superpower of Sketchers Shape Ups or the death-cheating health claims of POM juice). In cases like these, the offending parties are held accountable by the FTC for intentionally misleading consumers. The public doesn’t like being lied to, and we rely on governing bodies and uniform regulations to protect us.

But what about the marketing we encounter every time we visit a grocery store? In our increasingly health-conscious society, more and more people are checking labels to make sure they are feeding their families the most nutritious, least harmful foods possible. But what many don’t realize is that labels reading “all natural” or “farm fresh” don’t necessarily mean what people think they mean; in fact, due to a lack of regulation, many such buzz words mean virtually nothing at all.

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Reader Poll: Brand-Sponsored School Buses and Libraries: Yay or Nay?

Elizabeth S. Mitchell — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 12:28:48 +0000

In a country in which school budget cuts have cost districts everything from paper to teachers to entire programs, fundraising efforts need to go a lot further than local bake sales.

In an effort to boost revenue for New Jersey school districts, Gov. Chris Christie signed a bill into law in January that would allow advertisements on school buses. Half of all revenue generated will be used by to offset transportation costs, while the other half will be spent at the discretion of the Board of Education. The bill’s sponsors called it “an easy way for schools to generate additional revenue to help keep programs running.”

While ads promoting alcohol, tobacco, and political advocacy are prohibited and the ads are technically targeted to passing motorists (not the kids themselves), the whole idea of monetizing school buses doesn’t sit well with everyone. And one town’s proposal to allow ads at the school track and sell naming rights to libraries, cafeterias and classrooms has some up in arms. An editorial published on nj.com voices concerns about the messages such ads might send to children:

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Disney Turns a Common Sense Policy Change Into a Potential PR Problem

James F. Thompson — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 18:15:18 +0000

Ugh, we hate to see brands like Disney suffer the consequences of not providing the public with the “transparency” it demands. Pleasing millions of finicky fans seems so simple on the surface: it’s all about respect and communication, right?

Well, not even the most well-intentioned communicator is successful all of the time. Just ask your significant other. Also: when a person or brand forgets to mention certain important details, the public has a dangerous and instinctual tendency to fill in the blanks on its own.

That’s how conspiracies are born. By not providing enough evidence to prove your case to the public, you leave the door open for wackos and well-meaning but misinformed “advocates” to take control of the narrative. Case in point: Disney’s recent decision to require all children entering any of its parks to be supervised by someone at least 14 years old. Said parks will continue to be “the happiest place[s] on Earth”–for kids traveling with legally viable guardians.

Wait…how was this ever NOT a rule?

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CNN Slammed for Coverage of Steubenville Rape Verdict

Patrick Coffee — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 12:13:45 +0000

CNN has received a lot of negative attention over the past 24 hours for its reporting on the convictions of the Steubenville, Ohio high school students who were found guilty of raping a classmate after evidence of their crime was widely shared on social media. Most of the outrage focused on this clip:

Many felt that anchor Candy Crowley and correspondent Poppy Harlow spent too much time speculating about the damage the verdict would do to the lives of these “promising” offenders rather than just, you know, reporting on the news or discussing the gravity of the crime. Casting convicted rapists as “poor young men” whose futures have been ruined is not the best way to boost your network’s reputation as “the most trusted name in news.”

It’s damage control time for CNN.

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Got PR Ethics? There’s an App for That!

Patrick Coffee — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 15:58:50 +0000

The folks at the top of the PR pyramid spend a good deal of time debating ethics in the industry. We get it: it can be hard to tell whether a certain action crosses that invisible line we draw between “OK” and “Not cool”. Now the PRSA (that’s Public Relations Society of America to strangers) and MSLGROUP have joined forces to address this crucial issue–with a mobile app.

PRSA Chair and CEO Mickey G. Nall says the app, which is of course based on the organization’s Code of Ethics, will give folks in the industry “easy access to real-time guidance to know that what they’re doing is right.”

The app’s features include official statements of professional values, in-depth explanations of the various PRSA code provisions and professional standards advisories on issues like plagiarism, the ethical use of interns, the “greenwashing” phenomenon and the appropriate use of non-original content. It also includes updated links to related PRSA blog posts, an ethics quiz and an “ask us a question” feature that sends your ethical quandary straight to the organization’s resident expert.

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Pretty Much Everybody Published Malaysian Government Propaganda

Patrick Coffee — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 14:48:05 +0000

Well, this is certainly NOT a case of earned media: this week a Department of Justice filing covered by BuzzFeed revealed that the current Malaysian government hired PR firms to pay opinion writers at various publications throughout the United States, encouraging them to write op-eds denouncing their primary opponent.

The main purpose of the articles, published by magazines and websites ranging from The National Review and The Guardian to The Huffington Post, was to distinguish current Prime Minister Najib Razak from opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim by claiming that he is a moderate Muslim while Ibrahim is a militant Islamist. (Note: according to advocacy groups like Amnesty International, Razak’s government also has a long history of human rights violations like restricting freedom of speech and religion and executing political enemies. They also jailed Ibrahim on what many saw to be “trumped up” charges.)

This was perfect subject material for writers who wanted to push the message that moderation is the only way for Islamist political parties empowered by the recent “Arab Spring” movement to engage with the rest of the world. One of the writers even told BuzzFeed today that “It was actually a fairly standard PR operation”, though he lost his column after the relationship was revealed.

We’re not particularly familiar with Malaysian politics, but the fact that these op-ed writers didn’t feel the need to reveal the backers who were paying them to voice specific opinions is a perfect example of why “PR” is a bad word for many people.

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More Authors Hiring Firms to Buy Up Their Own ‘Bestsellers’

Patrick Coffee — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 14:26:20 +0000

We can all agree that promoting books is a difficult and often thankless job complicated by the public’s rapid move away from paper and toward the digital model (which is less profitable but more efficient and far more agreeable to spouses who really don’t care for the dust and clutter of a big bookshelf).

For authors and publishers alike, the very ability to claim “bestseller” status can significantly increase sales in addition to related speaking and consulting fees (especially relevant if you write about business). Unfortunately, it seems that more authors are now responding to the PR and financial challenges of writing for a living by simply buying their way onto bestseller lists.

Here’s how it works: The Wall Street Journal outs a marketing firm called ResultSource which buys thousands of copies of books in bulk before their publication dates to create a false “sales bounce” and then returns them to the seller. (All for a significant fee, of course.)

Can you guess how we feel about this practice?

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Bribes, Blockades and Blackmail: Inside China’s ‘Black PR’ Industry

Patrick Coffee — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 15:58:02 +0000

We all know that public relations can get a little…insane at times. Bad behavior, lawsuits, internal leaks…we’ve got it all, right? Sure we do–but when it comes to crazy we can’t even compete with China. A “shocking expose” first reported by the People’s Republic’s Caixin magazine and translated by the Tech in Asia blog reveals a seedy PR underworld in which firms earn millions every year on the strength of bribery and blackmail–all committed in the name of media relations and reputation management.

The primary players in this sordid saga are two firms called Yage Times and XinXun Media. What did these firms do, exactly? They specialized in getting negative news stories about clients removed from prominent websites–but it all goes much deeper than that.

Not only would these companies bribe site runners to delete “unflattering” posts–they also paid their friends in IT to have related search terms blocked on Baidu, the Chinese equivalent of Google. Imagine entering “Beyoncé lip sync” or “Burger King horse meat” into your browser and coming up with a big fat nothing and you’ll get the general idea.

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Wedding Mag Will Run Rejected Ad Featuring Same-Sex Couple

Elizabeth S. Mitchell — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:44:46 +0000

When Weddings Unveiled magazine balked at running photographer Anne Almasy‘s ad because it featured a photo of a same-sex couple on their wedding day, Almasy responded with a few reliable PR strategies: Tugging at heartstrings, working in the name of love and tossing in a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. quote for good measure are pretty good strategies for gaining the support of like-minded people.

Almasy chose the adjacent picture for her ad because “…to me, it says love. It says home. It says joy.”

But it seems when the editors at Weddings Unveiled looked at the picture, they saw less love and joy, and more of a potential PR problem. One of the magazine’s editors sent Almasy the following comment:

“Is there possibly another photograph you’d like to use in your ad? We just don’t feel comfortable publishing an ad featuring a same-sex couple. These aren’t our personal beliefs, of course, but, you know…”

Taken aback, Almasy said of her work, “I don’t shoot gay weddings or straight weddings, Christian weddings or Jewish weddings, good weddings or bad weddings. I photograph PEOPLE on their wedding day.” But she didn’t stop there; she penned an open letter to WU, expressing her disappointment and defending her work. It read, in part:

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