“Ethics are the rules that direct a person’s conduct and moral judgment.”

While ethics can apply to selling in a business context, ethics also equally apply to personal selling and branding.

Photo of Tania Head

In 2001, shortly after 9/11 ruined the lives’ of many, a woman under the name Tania Head revealed herself as a 9/11 survivor with a mission to support those affected by the tragedy. She soon created a popular online community for 9/11 survivors and in 2003, she was approached by the founder of the World Trade Center Survivor’s network to merge the two groups. The goal of the merger was to further provide support for the survivors, taking in public donations to help the victims, families, and officers affected. Tania Head leveraged her own survivor story, and her heavy lobbying efforts swept the nation by storm. She soon rose to celebrity status as she recounted her survivor story at conferences, universities, and the media. Eventually, she also became President of the World Trade Center Survivor’s network.

In 2007, New York Times looked into Tania’s documents, and discovered that all the credentials she claimed (ie: attending Harvard, working at Merrill Lynch) were all false. Later on, it was revealed that Tania Head was not even a 9/11 survivor. In fact, her real name was Alicia Head, and on the day of 9/11, she was not at the scene, and instead, was in Barcelona taking classes.

Why Tania Head fabricated her involvement in 9/11 is still a mystery. Her lies devastated the nation: donors, victims, friends, the government, and many more. The credibility of the World Trade Center Survivor’s network was heavily criticized, and many felt robbed.

This example goes to show how even unethical personal selling can affect businesses and organizations. “Tania” had sold the idea that she was a survivor with a mission to alleviate pain, and consequently became a spokesperson to all victims of 9/11.

Her contributions were positive and changed the lives of many, but in the end, her dishonesty ruined all she had created.

While many would argue that what Tania did was wrong, I believe that she gave people hope in the time where hope was most needed.

My question to the class would be: Is it right to lie, even if you are helping others? What if Tania didn’t get caught? Does it matter that she did? Is it OK for salespeople, marketers, even doctors, to sell customers a belief?

Here is a short video if you want to learn more about Tania Head: