AT&T has recently come under fire due to a photo posted to their Twitter depicting a hand holding a smartphone, with the screen displaying the Tribute in Light. Accompanying the picture was the text “Never Forget”.  It immediately received an unexpected amount of backlash from social media users; many perceived the image as a tactless marketing ploy which exploited the tragedy of 9/11.  The picture was pulled from Twitter a few hours later, after hundreds of outraged replies condemned the tweet as tasteless and insensitive.

This controversy raises the issue of ethics within a business setting. It is difficult to truly define the acceptable boundaries for marketing; how far should company go in order to capture its intended consumer’s attention? At what point do these efforts become unethical?

A conspicuous lack of social responsibility within a business makes it less appealing to stakeholders. A consumers’ attitude towards a corporation will greatly influence their willingness to support and purchase from it. Despite the increased publicity for AT&T resulting from the tweet, the use of what most considered were unethical methods will ultimately be detrimental to their brand image.

Although AT&T has since insisted that the tweet was meant solely to pay tribute, I feel as though not enough consideration was put into the decision to make the post.  It seems inevitable that people would react to such a sensitive subject, regardless of whether or not AT&Ts intentions were genuine.

Source: http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/09/11/att-pulls-iphone-themed-911-tweet-after-mass-outrage/