To commemorate those who lost their lives and those who were Affected by the terrorist attack on September 11th AT&T shared a photo on twitter of the lights shining from Ground Zero. However, the photo was not just the beacons of light. Rather, it was a Blackberry Z10, a phone the company sells, taking the photo of the lights. Many tweeters shared their displeasure forcing the company to delete the post. This photo “was solely meant to pay respect to those affected by the 9/11 tragedy.” AT&T later stated in another tweet. Ethics in business play a major role in how the company is viewed. Now that AT&T has used this opportunity to market their phone, whether it be intentional or not, the company has been branded as using unethical advertising measures. Today was a day to commemorate, to respect, and to pay homage to an important day in America’s recent past, not to sell more phones. In ethics it is vital to adhere to social conventions of the culture, and the American culture responded vigorously. Whether it was purposeful or not, marketing on a day of mourning is simply unethical and as such has hurt AT&T’s reputation.

Business Insider, . “AT&T apologizes for 9/11 commemorative tweet that featured a BlackBerry Z10 after getting Twitter-shamed.” Financial Post. (2013): n. page. Print. <http://business.financialpost.com/2013/09/11/att-911-tweet-blackberry/>.