In the Metro Newspaper today, something caught my eye: Mike “The Situation.”

For those who don’t know about Jersey Shore, it’s a reality show based around 8 Italian Amercians who basically party all the time. Govenor Chris Christie has said that he finds the show to be a negative and incorrect portrayal of the real New Jersey. I totally agree.

But the local authorities however are saying they are glad about the economic revenue and activity the show brings to the area.

MTV makes money off of Season DVDs and the reality stars make a huge profit. The “Shore Store” where the stars work must be raking it in. I assume people travel all the way to the shore just to even get a glimpse of the stars or to buy something from the store.

So is it worth it, having these 8 people act the way they do to rake in on tourism? Has the negativity of the show gotten in the past eased off because of the economic activity? I guess there really is no such thing as bad publicity. In the end, it is all about profit.

I thought about the movie “Erin Brockovitch” starring Julia Roberts when concerning business ethics.  Based on a true story, PG&E (Pacific Gas and Electric) operates a compressor station in Hinkley, California for natural gas transmission pipelines. The water used contained hexavalent chromium to prevent rusting of the machinery but consequently contaminated the town’s groundwater. The company advised the townspeople about the chromium but claimed it was not a worry and was in many multivitamins. However, this particular chromium can be quite toxic, causing body damage when inhaled. PG&E was sued, costing hundreds of millions dollars towards settlement. This case can judge PG&E with bad business ethics. Similar to the PG&E lawsuit, Midland, Texas has contaminated groundwater from hexavalent chromium Midland, Texas. This goes to show that billion dollar companies like PG&E seem to care more about their increasing fortune and remain ignorant to the complaints of the people they harm. It’s not like they made a mistake with their resources; the company was fully aware of the dangers of the chromium. The ethics behind a company keep it strong as does the strong relations with the community. Lying harms the trust of the company. Business in decline.

Reference:

http://fumento.com/brockovich/buspress.html