Ethical Marketing in a Plague
A dialogue about COVID-19, marketing in the midst of COVID-19, and how businesses should respond, based on the standards they set for themselves.
HAROLD and SALLY are two marketers at a B2C technology startup in San Francisco. Their company offers a mobile app that identifies beer, wine, and liquor by brand and product name — all that’s required is a picture of the liquid itself (it uses AI). They’ve just learned that they’ll be working from home for the foreseeable future. As they pack up their things, HAROLD gets an email.
Act I: “Ethical” Marketing
HAROLD, taking a last glance at his laptop screen: Sleazy marketers really piss me off. They make us look bad, shoehorning coronavirus into everything. It’s gross.
SALLY: What do you mean?
HAROLD: I mean it’s disgusting how they’re taking advantage of the situation. He reopens his laptop and reads an email subject line. “Worried about coronavirus? flUber can help.” They’re a ridesharing service! Heck, that’s probably where you’re most likely to get it.
SALLY: What were they supposed to do? They’re probably thinking the same thing you were: “Oh crap, this is going to cut our rides in half.” What else could they do?
HAROLD, groaning: Ugh. I’m sure there’s a better way for them to go about it. I mean, marketing exists to engage with customers and potential customers, and drive awareness and revenue, sure -
SALLY, interrupting: Exactly! All anyone is aware of right now is COVID-19. And to save their revenue, they’re tapping into that attention stream. Isn’t that the point of marketing? To build awareness and grow revenue?
HAROLD: I mean, you’re right, but there has to be a better way. Though I guess it’s no wonder that panic brings out the worst in us. If our goal is to build awareness and grow revenue, that’s a perfect storm for tone-deaf ads, insensitive outreach, and otherwise unethical behavior.
SALLY: Unethical? We just agreed that the primary purpose of marketing is to build awareness and grow revenue.
HAROLD: But those things don’t grow revenue and awareness! At least not in the long term, and at least not the right kind of awareness. Consumers will remember the bad actors. Sleazy marketing like that will ultimately hurt revenue.
SALLY: You think so? Nobody seems to remember that Volkswagen set out, quite intentionally, to play a role in destroying the planet. A year after the scandal broke, they sold more cars than ever before. Nobody remembers. We watched the Netflix documentary, got mad for a week, posted a couple memes, then bought a new Jetta.
HAROLD, pausing: It does seem like, if there were ever a time in history when consumers would forget unethical marketing, it would be now. Especially if it’s just a random email or ad.
SALLY: There’s that word again. Unethical marketing. Where do you draw the line between ethical and unethical marketing if both are aiming at the same thing, and there are no repercussions for the unethical version?
HAROLD: They’re profiting on fear!
SALLY: You never had a problem taking advantage of FOMO before. What do you think the “F” stands for?
HAROLD: It’s different. It’s different to take advantage of fear in the sense of “keeping up with the Joneses” and when people are afraid for their lives.
SALLY: So it’s okay to manufacture fear, but not to use existing fear?
HAROLD: That’s the wrong idea. People are afraid that they or their loved ones might die, not that they won’t be able to show off to their neighbors. It’s totally different. If you think about treating disease, it’s a highly regulated area. You can’t just claim to cure a disease without putting your “cure” through years of testing.
SALLY: Some essential oils beg to differ. And don’t forget that one weird old trick for weight loss that doctors hate.
HAROLD: Not a fan of those, either.
SALLY: For the reason that they prey on the misguided and take advantage of fears that have to do with physical well-being?
HAROLD: Exactly.
SALLY: So their marketers are acting unethically.
HAROLD: I’d say so.
SALLY: But some people get a lot out of stuff like that. Even if it’s all woo, you can’t deny that these products improve some people’s lives. The placebo effect is a thing.
HAROLD: I don’t understand what that has to do with coronavirus.
SALLY: What if that sleazy marketing helps some people? Maybe flUber is actually providing good advice. They’re safeguarding their own revenue while keeping their customers safer than they would be otherwise.
HAROLD: You’re saying that sleazy, opportunistic marketing can have its cake and eat it too.
SALLY: By the standards we have set for ourselves as marketers, it seems.
HAROLD, contemplating: Okay, so what if it’s a matter of statistics? For example, if an email helps <1% of people and causes needless worry in the other 99%.
SALLY: Helps some people not contract COVID-19 for the price of five minutes of worry? That seems like a decent trade-off to me.
HAROLD, thinking: You’re right, that doesn’t really work. Especially when the stakes are high and lives are on the line.
SALLY: Wait a minute, this sounds like the reason you thought it was unethical in the first place!
HAROLD, brow furrowing: Crap.
Act II: Employment
At this point, a colleague in their company’s strategy department, TIM, walks up.
TIM: Hey guys, all ready to work from home?
SALLY: Not now Tim. Harold is in the middle of reevaluating his beliefs.
TIM, laughing: Classic Harold! I’m sure I can help. What’s the situation?
SALLY: Harold is put off by what he sees as unethical marketing — marketing that takes advantage of COVID-19. We’ve reached a bit of a conundrum: if the goal of marketing is to increase awareness and revenue, what makes this sort of marketing unethical, other than the fact that it just feels bad? Even the most forced application could potentially help someone.
TIM: Oh, this is an easy one. There’s no such thing as ethics in marketing. Heck, even in business generally. It’s all about maximizing on a metric: awareness, revenue, growth, et cetera. Once you accept that you’ll have an easier time.
SALLY: Even layoffs? That seems like something on a lot of minds right now.
TIM: Especially layoffs.
HAROLD, coming back into focus: Wait, what?
SALLY: I would also like an explanation.
TIM: I’m saying it’s simple. Businesses exist to maximize a few key metrics. Usually that’s shareholder value. Secondary is profit or revenue growth, depending on the business. You might not like it, but we’re just extractable resources. Like coal, but smarter.
SALLY: But we have company values like “We are all a team,” “We strive together with relentless focus on a common goal,” and “Treat coworkers like they’re gold.” That doesn’t seem to fit, especially with the new focus our CEO has on employee inclusion and belonging. We can’t imagine coal, waiting to be burned, feeling particularly valued.
TIM, laughing: That’s pretty naive. All companies say that stuff. When the rubber hits the road, it’s all a pile of crap. But it’s great if you can get your employees to buy into it, they work a lot harder if they feel like “gold”!
HAROLD: Was it always like that?
TIM: Pretty much. Like I said, it’s basically a law of nature.
SALLY: This sounds like doublethink.
TIM: Don’t know what that is.
SALLY: Really? 1984? George Orwell?
TIM: Nope. You guys should hurry up, they’re starting to shoo the 5th floor people out already.
SALLY, ignoring: Doublethink is when you believe something to be true, typically in allegiance to an ideology, while at the same time recognizing contradictions. Yet you stay the course of the ideology regardless and accept its point of view as true.
HAROLD: So in this case it would be recognizing both “I am an expendable tool” and also “I am secure and valued here.”
TIM: Hmm, pretty much. Couldn’t get much work done if you were constantly worried about your job! But really you just ignore all that while the going’s good.
HAROLD: The going doesn’t seem to be good.
TIM: That’s why you should start putting out feelers for other jobs. That’s the plus side. It goes both ways. They can fire you, but you can leave whenever you want.
HAROLD: But if everyone, at every company did that, nothing would get done. We’d all be half-assing as we expect the grass to be greener somewhere else.
TIM: There are always suckers to fill the gap. Don’t be a sucker. Grinning. Think of this as free consulting. He turns to walk away.
SALLY, calling: Wait up! We’ll walk out with you.
HAROLD and SALLY pick up their boxes and follow TIM.
SALLY, catching up: You’d think that everyone would wise up eventually.
TIM: Well, people usually fall into two groups. The ones that wise up go into management because they’d rather be the extractors than the extracted. Make more money for it too. The rest bounce from job to job and blame themselves or circumstance. They drown their sorrows and distract themselves with Netflix, booze, or a family.
SALLY: But managers themselves are also a resource, right? Even the CEO is accountable to the board, which is accountable to investment groups, which are accountable to their individual members.
TIM, grinning again: Yeah, it’s turtles all the way up.
HAROLD: More doublethink!
ALLISON, a manager in the HR department, catches sight of them as she carries her own box. She rushes to catch up.
ALLISON: Hey guys! What’s up? How are you all feeling?
SALLY: Tim was just telling us about how we are all expendable resources and that we should look for other jobs. ALLISON looks aghast.
ALLISON, to TIM: What?
TIM, glowering: Dammit Sally.
SALLY, continuing: He also said that our company values were a “pile of crap.”
ALLISON: WHAT?
TIM, regaining his composure: Oh come on.
ALLISON: You do realize that we created our values to represent what makes our culture unique, right Tim? They’re the lifeblood of the company!
TIM, getting annoyed: Really? “We are all a team”? Because no other company has teams, right?
ALLISON: They’re guiding principles! And unlike a lot of other companies, we actually live our values.
TIM: So even if the company goes sideways, we’ll keep everyone on payroll because of our values, got it. And go under even faster.
ALLISON: What the hell? There’s no reason to think that at all!
TIM: Businesses go out of business all the time. That’s the way of the world.
SALLY: I’m actually curious, Allison. What if the company was, in Tim’s words, “going sideways”? Are employees just an expendable resource?
ALLISON: That’s a ridiculous question. Employees are our most valuable resource. If things end up not going well, and, I should say it again, our business is in tremendous shape, that’s a hard decision that will not be taken lightly when the time comes.
HAROLD: But if that’s true, how could we ever have inclusion and belonging?
TIM: Ha! You’ve got to let people go to let the rest keep their jobs. Like in Titanic when that girl pushed Leonardo DiCaprio off the raft.
SALLY: I don’t think that’s what happened.
ALLISON, to HAROLD: Like I said, these are really hard decisions. That, again, we are in no need to make.
HAROLD, muttering: Seems harder for the ones who get decision’d.
TIM, slapping HAROLD on the back: And that’s why business needs to be ruthless! To keep growing, secure the future, and avoid that at all costs.
SALLY: Is this where supposedly “unethical” marketing might come into play?
TIM: Naturally! It’s survival of the fittest. Want to be ethical and keep everybody employed? You might need to cross a line or two.
SALLY: So to act ethically, we need to act unethically?
TIM: Like I said, there aren’t any ethics. Keeping everybody employed is a bonus to maximizing shareholder value. That’s the beauty of the market.
ALLISON: Oh please. Our company is one of the most ethical technology companies in the Bay Area. We’ve doubled all our employees’ donations to natural disaster relief, and contributed a combined two tons of canned goods to the San Francisco homeless. And Inc.com even named us one of its Top 50 Companies Leading With Values.
TIM, rolling his eyes: And how convenient that it all ends up in a press release! Yeah, of course some companies act ethical. But what a crazy coincidence that the same companies with “values” are the ones selling their product — or the opportunity to work there — to rich liberals! Just watch. If that coronavirus ends up hitting the bottom line, you’ll see all 50 of those Values Companies taking a hacksaw to their headcount. And what choice do they have? It’s that or go under.
SALLY, interrupting: Allison, you manage people, right? Tim says that the only reason people move into management is to become less expendable and make more money. Why did you?
ALLISON, glaring at TIM: Because I get to make a positive impact on people’s lives. Of course, money is always nice. But it’s not the most important thing. I get to help my direct reports thrive. It’s incredibly rewarding to watch people grow and succeed.
TIM: You mean it feeds your closet narcissism. If you wanted to watch people grow and succeed, you’d join Teach for America.
ALLISON: Tim!
SALLY, to ALLISON: I’m genuinely curious. Why not Teach for America if the most rewarding thing for you is helping people thrive? First graders in underserved communities would gain a lot more from your empathy, tact, and guidance than Stanford grads.
ALLISON, lowering her voice: To be truthful, that’s what I was planning for as an undergrad. Pausing and regaining confidence. But I saw the opportunity to impact more people through the positive effects of technology.
TIM, gleefully: And you followed the money! Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with us.
HAROLD, a little downcast: So there’s nothing for it.
Act III: Might Makes
SALLY: Hold on a second. I think we’re all smart people. How did we end up in radically different spots? Harold, at least initially, had very strong opinions about what he considered ethical marketing. Allison seems to care deeply about the well-being of the company and employees, even if her motives are not altogether altruistic. And Tim claims to have it all figured out, to have swallowed the “red pill,” in a sense.
TIM: That’s the power of stories, tall tales. Chuckles. Superhero movies. They keep the suckers down. But don’t worry: my own parents fed me that stuff too. There’s still hope for you yet.
SALLY: These notions couldn’t have come from nowhere though.
TIM: Like I said, they keep the suckers in line. “Don’t hurt others” is a good moral if you’re afraid of getting hurt yourself. Some people take it further than others.
SALLY: Like a lie with noble intentions?
TIM, laughing: More like selfish intentions. The red pill thing was spot on. It’s like the scales fall from your eyes once you realize these systems and stories were all designed to by weak people to protect themselves.
SALLY: If that’s the case, they seem to be in a position of more strength than the red pill-takers, if they have the power to influence like that.
TIM, winking: Or the strong let ’em get away with it so they can take advantage. It might not be a noble lie, but it’s a useful one.
SALLY: For the ones who see through the ruse?
TIM: Exactly.
SALLY: But also for the ones who don’t.
TIM: I guess.
SALLY: So for the most part, the ones who “get it” live out a lie, while the — I suppose someone in that position would call them lemmings — the lemmings live out something closer to what they believe to be right?
HAROLD: I think I get it. They need to keep up appearances around the worker bees, otherwise the whole system would collapse in on itself. Especially if they’re in management and their success requires that their direct reports work hard.
SALLY: Sounds like a remarkably uncomfortable way to live.
TIM, sarcastically: Yeah, but who owns the yacht? He pauses. And, again, when you see through the crap, work hard, and work cutthroat, you can help the world way more than if you’re just a happy busy bee. Think about Bill Gates. He’s done more for the world than most governments. As a businessman? Not the nicest guy. Microsoft crushed their competition, probably sent thousands off to collect unemployment.
SALLY: And who foots the bill for those unemployment checks?
TIM, groaning and rolling his eyes: Are you going to make me keep saying the same thing? The system works because there are people that get it, and people that don’t. The ones that don’t, they foot the bill.
SALLY: So the success of business is built on ignorance? Like you said earlier — if everyone followed your advice, it wouldn’t work.
TIM, growing exasperated: Yes!
ALLISON, jumping back in: Seriously Tim? You think all business successes come from taking advantage of ignorance? And not just the ignorance of the general public, but the ignorance of its own employees?
TIM: Prove me wrong.
ALLISON: Our entire company is built on knowledge! Helping consumers know what they’re putting in their bodies! It’s called the knowledge economy, for God’s sake.
TIM: That’s a bad argument and you know it. You can be ignorant in some things and smart in others.
HAROLD: But it doesn’t seem right to take advantage of people like that.
TIM: Who cares? It didn’t “seem” right for women to show their ankles a hundred years ago, look where we are now. Heck, it didn’t “seem” right to be gay until a decade ago. And if businesses didn’t take advantage of people, we’d be a lot worse off. If there was a truly altruistic company, it’d go under real quick.
SALLY: From the security of none, comes the security of all.
TIM: Pretty much.
HAROLD: So there’s no place for getting upset at sleazy marketing? Heck, even during mass layoffs?
TIM: I mean, feel free to get upset, by all means. But it’s not rational. We’re here to optimize a metric, and if sleazy marketing or layoffs get the job done, that’s just the way things are.
SALLY: Like getting mad at a hurricane or earthquake?
TIM: Yup.
SALLY: So there’s no place for personal responsibility?
TIM: Only the responsibility to look after yourself.
SALLY: And when you say “looking after yourself”, you mean whatever will optimize that metric. The metric of your own well-being and security. Whether it’s playing nicely with others for expediency, or brutally cutting them off.
TIM: You got it.
SALLY: So relationships, for you, are all built on mutual utility, but also mutual mistrust?
TIM: That’s the way alliances have always worked. It’s a win-win, until it’s not.
HAROLD: I hate to admit it, but Tim’s position seems impenetrable. If we consider employees’ job security to be the most important ethical consideration, businesses need to grow revenue. Same thing if we consider employee salaries to be the most important. Same again if we want to prioritize technological innovation. No matter where we put our ethical priorities, they’re easiest to achieve through the success of business. And sometimes to maximize success they need to put ethics by the wayside: even if that means sleazy marketing or compromises with payroll. I’d rather have a few people laid off than the whole company go under, as bad as that feels to say.
SALLY: It does seem that way if we are measuring ethical outcomes solely through aggregate financial measures.
TIM, smirking: Let me guess. You’re about to tell us about how there’s some other, less tangible thing, like achieving our “full” potential, or having some higher calling that’s more important. Hate to break it to you, but nobody’s achieving anything if they’re living hand to mouth.
SALLY: You’re saying that the only way for us to achieve our ethical outcome of choice, is to disregard those same ethical considerations until we reach a given threshold?
TIM: That’s exactly what I’m saying. Think about the cave men. Don’t seem to have given much thought to anything besides bashing each others’ skulls in and hunting mammoths to extinction. We only started navel-gazing when our food supply was secure.
SALLY: I think it’s safe to say our food supply, particularly in Western countries, is more secure than it’s ever been. She steals a somewhat intentional glance at TIM’s rather large gut. So if that threshold isn’t met now, when would it ever be?
TIM: Not my problem. As I’ve been saying, I’m above all that noise.
SALLY: So what’s your goal, or driving force, or raison d’etre?
TIM: Doing what I want. And achieving the security to do what I want.
SALLY: Your goal is to be in the position to have goals?
TIM, thinking: Its freedom. If I want to raise a family, I’ll be able to raise a family and send my kids to the best schools. If I want to start a business, I won’t need outside investment. Grinning. If I want to buy a yacht, I’ll be able to buy a yacht.
SALLY: Ridding yourself of chains that might, at some point in the future, prevent you from doing whatever you may want.
TIM: Exactly.
SALLY, contemplating: But your chosen view, what you’ve outlined over the course of this conversation, is burdened with a huge number of contingencies. Far more than you’d have otherwise.
For example, your “freedom” is dependent on the continued ignorance of the general population to the ruse you claim lies at the root of every business. And it’s dependent on the hope that no one sees through your ruse particularly.
She pauses briefly, before continuing. As you rise through the ranks, you’re accountable to people who are more powerful and less forgiving. Your own self-worth is contingent on the dependency of your direct reports, many of which you hold in disdain because they haven’t “figured it out” like you have.
Building up steam. Since you’ve swallowed the pill that throws morals to the wind, you have no foundation to create relationships beyond that of mutual utility and mutual distrust. The only connections you can make are with those who, like yourself, believe right and wrong are distinctions to be made for expediency — hardly a delightful bunch. When pressed on what you want to achieve, you can name nothing but the ability to achieve. The “freedom” you claim to prioritize is a house of cards, and the only way you see to secure it further is by adding another layer!
She pauses and catches her breath before continuing:
And, if I were to guess, the primary utility of your utility-oriented standpoint is less to gain an advantage in business than it is to gain the wide-eyed adoration of your less experienced colleagues. Why else would you risk blowing your cover with two marketing managers you have no benefit telling?
TIM, stunned for a moment, and clearly surprised: Jesus. Fine — take my advice or leave it, I’m leaving. We’ve been standing in this parking lot for like 30 minutes.
ALLISON: Holy crap Sally.
HAROLD, looking to SALLY: Ditto.
ALLISON: Well, uh, I’m also going to head out. Don’t listen to Tim. Shouting as she gets in her car. We’re changing the world with our technology!
SALLY, looking exhaustedly at HAROLD: Want to get a drink?
HAROLD, deadpan: I need more than three.
Epilogue: Later, at a Bar
HAROLD: We never actually got to the bottom of the coronavirus thing.
SALLY, taking a long gulp of her cocktail: Nope.
HAROLD: And you know, I didn’t find your argument against Tim wholly compelling. As cool of a rant as it was.
SALLY, pausing: Neither did I.
HAROLD, downing his drink and gesturing to the bartender: Two, ah, *hic* pours over here, please.
End
