When disaster strikes, opportunities arise. During Hurricane Sandy, many businesses looked to take advantage of the situation; which begged the question: is it ethical?

When companies like American Apparel and Gap are having “Hurricane Sandy Sales” and shamelessly flogging it on Twitter, its sort of like a slap in the face for the many people whose homes are being torn apart. There is no question that they profited from running an online sale when the east coast is stuck indoors but what effect did it have on their public perception? It certainly was bad enough to prompt apologies from Gap.

On the other hand, companies like Duracell are actually putting business aside help Sandy victims. Their deeds were applauded on social media as the people of New York were able to charge their mobile devices and received free batteries from Duracell’s trucks in the aftermath of the Hurricane.

I think its great that Duracell is doing things like this. They might be taking a loss on the operation but the next time I am deciding between Duracell and Energizer, I know who I will go with.

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/01/business/media/marketers-ride-the-coattails-of-a-storm-not-all-successfully.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0