Watch Out - Sprinkles Are Illegal Now!
You might think of sprinkles as a cheerful and harmless dessert 🧁 topping.
Nonetheless, for one British bakery, a certain brand of “illegal” American sprinkles caused it to close its doors 🚪 for a day and remove two staple items from its menu.
Get Baked, a bakery based in Leeds, England, wrote on Facebook in early October that they would be closed the next day for several reasons: staff training, the need to catch up on other work, exhaustion 😮💨 among employees, and a recent “lovely visit from Trading Standards” after an anonymous customer reported the bakery for “using what are apparently illegal sprinkles”.
Ethical business practices are important ❗️ in every industry, including digital marketing. Customers are often distrustful. The public has not forgotten past ads that they suspected 🤔 were too good to be true that turned out to be less than truthful.
Past deceptive marketing practices have caused customers to look for tricky wording in ads, read the fine print, read customer reviews, and do background research 🖥 on companies. Likely due to bad marketing practices, many of today’s customers expect transparency 🪟 in marketing - the assurance that companies solidly stand behind their claims.
What is “Unethical Marketing”?
Unethical marketing sends the wrong ❌ messages out to prospects about your products and services. These practices can lead to legal problems, but more importantly, they can lead to reputational loss or destroy 💥 your brand. Unethical marketing practices are not always obvious. Deception in subtle ways is just as misleading. These practices are major turn-offs for customers and, sometimes, they can be illegal, too. Here are 4 unethical marketing campaigns and practices you need to be aware of and avoid at all costs:
1️⃣ Misleading advertising misses the mark
Misleading ads are unethical, and they are illegal as well. The Federal Trade Commision (FTC) regulates truth ⚖️ in advertising, and it expects marketers to make accurate 👍 statements in their advertising campaigns, back claims with scientific evidence whenever possible, and be transparent about negative features.
It is common for marketers to highlight the best features of their products and downplay the negatives to improve 📈 sales. The line between ethical and unethical gets a little murky in these types of ads. Marketers cross the line to the unethical when they cannot prove their claims.
2️⃣ Contacting customers without consent
The FTC enforces the CAN-SPAM Act which sets commercial email 📧 standards, such as not contacting prospects without their consent. Upon customer request to unsubscribe, you must take them off your list to abide by the law. Before you are tempted to buy a list 📋 of prospects, consider that bugging the wrong customers too many times will do you more reputational harm than good.
3️⃣ Insensitive controversy may stir up trouble
Some marketers try to stir up controversy or present an unpopular opinion just to get people talking 🗣. Bad news often gets as much attention as good news, but that does not mean that it will always send customers your way. Take caution - relying on this unethical practice may result in more enemies 🤬 than customers.
4️⃣ Emotional exploitation can explode in a bad way
A great ad can make you burst out laughing 🤣, bring tears to your eyes, or help you recall a pleasant memory from “way back when”. Using ads to prey on customers’ emotions can force a bond 🔗 with your brand. However, they can also backfire on you just as easily. Be careful about crossing the line with tasteless ads that exploit human emotions.
As a marketer, it is your responsibility to net ROI marketing while holding the line on ethical and legal marketing practices. Customers expect transparency, and newer technology will give them access to it. It is time for us to rise to the occasion and quit pretending unethical practices are acceptable. Want to learn more about legal and ethical marketing? Hit us up 🤩😎!
References:
Breen, K. 2021, October 15. ‘Sprinklegate’: British bakery reported for using ‘illegal’ US sprinkles. TODAY.
Tama-Rutigliano, K. 2019, June 24. How To Draw The Line On Unethical Marketing. Forbes.
