As I am someone who values authenticity highly, I am always interested by various false advertising scandals. I’m not surprised when a few large companies try to scheme their way into higher profits, but what truly astonishes me is how many companies do it. False advertising can be summarized by any act that encourages customers to purchase products or services that they might otherwise avoid.

Over the years, I have read about many large scandals in the corporate world and one that caught my attention was the Hyundai and Kia Horsepower Scandal. These companies claimed that some of their vehicles had up to 9.6 percent more horsepower than they actually had, which lead to success for the companies and an initially satisfied customer base. It wasn’t until it was proven that the cars, in fact, had less horsepower than originally stated that the customers became dissatisfied. This obvious act of deception is completely unacceptable and it is beyond me how companies are, time and again, willing to target and abuse customers’ naivety. In this case, Hyundai and Kia paid for their poor ethics through a settlement that was estimated to be between $75 million and $125 million to be paid to the mistreated customers. However, this example allows for the assumption to be made that, in the corporate world, there are certainly some unethical behaviours that go unnoticed. A rather extensive, yet far from exhaustive list of false advertising scandals can be found through this link.

I believe that the value of one’s word is more valuable than short-term gains in market share or profit. A company that promotes itself as having sound ethics and credibility is where I will choose to place my loyalty. Shortcuts and get-rich-quick schemes never pay off in the long run.