Nov
22
RE: Beating a Dead Horse
Posted by: gracemjk | November 22, 2011 | Leave a Comment
I found Conrad’s Blog Posting about the issue of Canadian government imposing a 75% packaging law very interesting in terms of the idea of company’s right in having branding it’s products. I couldn’t agree more with how despite the company’s harmful products to Canadian consumer’s they should be treated with equality as other product companies not equity. However, It started to make me think about whether the tobacco industry was an ethical industry in the business world. The reason why had such powerful, invincible stance in the field was because their consumers suffered from medical “addiction” towards the product.
Is this ethical?
Can we say that despite it’s stunning revenue and growth of the business, it is an unethical business at the end of the day?
I have noticed the extensive packaging with gruesome pictures of lung cancer and what not on cigarette boxes before and have even asked the regular smokers if the disturbing graphics disturbed them at all. The answer was stunning. The packaging didn’t bother them all! The cigarette smokers were so “hooked” to the product, that they seemed to be at a point where the “product” was what they wanted and branding didn’t matter to them at all.
I think in business perspective, no in doubt is the tobacco industry a successful and influential industry that drives our industry. How they have that consistent customer return and stunning revenue defines them as industry that generates large sums of money. However, I don’t think it is ethical to attain this return through medical addiction. Not only is addiction the problem, but smoking initiates all the critical diseases and conditions in people such as various cancers resulting in death, which affects debt that people collect in the health care systems especially in the US.
Tobacco industry takes a significant portion in the world economy, and there’s no chance that it is going to disappear within time. However, I think it’s important for there to be no more invention of innovation of such product.
Check out Conrad’s Post: https://www.vista.ubc.ca/webct/urw/lc5116011.tp0/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct