When it comes to ethical issues it all boils down to perception, what one individual may deem offensive, another may not give a second thought. While many ethical issues can be blown out of proportion by the media and deemed a ”scandal”, when it came to the Hyundai car commercial the consensus was clear. The commercial in question depicted a man attempting to commit suicide by asphyxiation by locking himself in his car and feeding the exhaust through his windows.

http://youtu.be/JyHhvL89LGE

While the adds intention was to display how the new model only produces water vapours from its exhaust, the response from the public and media has shown the company how misguided they were. The commercial has brought up negative memories from mourning family members and seems to be trying to make light of the fact that thousands of people die every year committing suicide. When producing a commercial that sparked such outrage from the public, one would think that somewhere along the production line an individual had to have protested this misguided attempt at humour. Though the company did pull the commercial and has issued a formal apology there are still individuals who were deeply affected by the commercial and the company will be forced to deal with the negative reputation they brought upon themselves for years to come. When it comes to public perception, intent does not seem to come into play. Though Hyundai never intended to hurt of offend anyone they must still deal with the consequences of how their actions were perceived.

(Jeffrey Maciejewski. Hyundai Suicide Ad Draws Visceral Reactions. creightoninfoethics.wordpress.com. Published April 25, 2013. http://creightoninfoethics.wordpress.com/2013/04/25/hyundai-suicide-ad-draws-visceral-reactions/)