In the last mini-case, we briefly discussed ambush marketing, and the ethical issues behind those practices. It reminded me of two Youtube videos I came across a while ago. 
The first one was the walk-in closet advertisement for Heineken, and the second is a parody of the first (except with alternate ending) that advertised Bavaria (another brand of beer). When the Heineken commercial was first aired, people responded well to it. A few months after, Bavaria, Heineken’s competitor, responded by using the wide exposure of the Heineken commercial to its advantage by airing a parody of the first. After conducting some research, I found that Heineken and Bavaria do not operate under the same parent company, which means the management of Heineken probably were not too pleased by Bavaria’s parody. Although Bavaria did not portray Heineken negatively in their marketing video, the consumers who have watched Heineken’s original video would see Bavaria as superior. 
Bavaria leveraged the fame of their competitor’s successful advertising campaign to their advantage, and bypassed the anti-negative advertising laws to put down their competitor. I believe Bavaria’s method of advertising is very clever, but unethical.
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With the US credit crisis, many lending institutions are hesitating to lend, especially to small companies that do not have large assets to provide as collateral. However, small businesses’ investments are crucial to the economic recovery, so the US government is searching for solutions to this problem of credit. 
For example, where the accountants analyze liquidity ratios to make recommendations to improve liquidity. Financial analysts research the investments that will generate the largest returns for the company. An in-depth look at John Tozzi’s proposal shows how closely different departments within the company are required to work in order to achieve a high credit rating.
