ipting Morality When they are at the top of their games, Olympic and that brings
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ipting Morality When they are at the top of their games, Olympic and that brings negative pubicty fessional athletes are able to command multi-million- dollar endorsement contracts to pany are basically a judgment is not Lance Armstrong who was recently stripped of his room for the celebrities. In fact, there is a Tour de France wins, was once ranked as the 60th most of terminations. effective product spokesperson. He was right up there with Brad Pitt. Now, he is ranked 1,410 with Nicki Minaj. The companies that have not renewed Mr. bong at a campus party Armstrong's endorsement agreements or have termi- 2009. Model Kate Moss lost her endorsement nated them include Nike, Radio Shack, Trek Bicycle. with Burberry and Chanel when, in 2005, a grainy Easton-Bell (the makers of the Giro helmets Mr. Arm- tape emerged strong wore in his races), FRS Energy Foods, Anheuser Verizon withdrew its sponso Busch. 24 Hour Fitness, and Nissan. Mr. Armstrong tour when a raunchy on the part of the c Olympian Michael Phelps lost his endorsement showed up on the Intenet in video- of the Gwen Stefani million per year from appeared online. The video showed Akon engaged in rapper contract with Kellogg's when photos of him smoking that showed her using cocaine. In video of her opening act the endorsement contracts. When the by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency were detailed, Nike of 18. The video resulted in considerable coverage and originally stood by Mr. Armstrong. However. when the outrage from parents and commentators Uniquely, the agency released its documentation, Nike called the evi- Stefani endorsement contract was terminated for her dence "insumountable" that Mr. Armstrong had partici- association with another artist who had questionable pated in doping for more than a decade. Nike withdrew behavior ts contract with Mr. Armstrong but agreed to continue to support his LiveStrong Foundation. charges leveled questionable on-stage behavior with a fan under the Perhaps the best example of discretion in using the morals clauses came when Tiger Woods was in car crash near his Florida home and the extent of In 2013, Chef Paula Deen lost her Food Network contract as well as endorsement S field Foods, Walmart, Target, and others for her admis- sion that she hao use a racial siur a nt contracts with Smith- his marital infidelity came to light. Mr. Woods lost contracts with Accenture, AT&T;, and Gatorade. Gatorade did continue its relationship with sement contracts always have a form the Tiger Woods Foundation. Nike did not drop its endorsement of a morals cause a tiause that allows the sponsor to sponsorship and Nike chairman and co-founder Phi terminate the ceeract for a variety of reasons such as anKnight explained that these problems with athletes arrest. The athle fals from grace are for very differ- are just "part of the game" when you sign them. TAG ent reasons, and those reasons are difficult to anticipate Heuer did not drop Woods because, as a spokes- in terms of contract language. However, businesses still person explained., "He's the best in his domain. We lity clauses in contracts-clauses that cover respect his performance in the sport Woods personal ness." TAG Heuer did. however uring Mr. Woods. Gillette also the moral missteps. Defining those missteps can be difficult life is not our busi and some contracts resort to nonspecific language such stop running its ads feat as "conduct that results in a negative response to the stopped running Woods ads but did not terminate product or company" or "conduct that reduces the relationship until later credibility of the endorser However, the clauses generally have additional Should athletes be role models? Is termination of a con munds for termination such as conduct by the celebrity tract for personal conduct ethical? Are morality clauses appropriate in these contractsExplanation / Answer
The use of brand ambassadors and celebrity endorsers is to enhance the reputation of the brand and thus provide access to a larer market through the influence of the celebrity endorsement. However if the celebrity is caught doing acts which are not acceptable to the general public, which is the market base for these product, then using these celebrity to endorse the product could be counter productive for the brands. Hence it is appropriate to have morality clauses in the celebrity contracts with the brand.
Athletes command a lot of respect from the general public because of their performance on the field and their rise in life based on hardwork, talent and sheer performance on the field. However, if these individuals are indulging in immoral acts or acts which are not in line with moral standards of the society, then a perception could develop that it is ok to violate moral principles if one is successful and this could be risky to keep the standard order in the society. Hence it is imperative for atheletes to hold the moral principles to preserve the order in society.
Since the clause to uphold the moral values are included as part of the contract, so it is not unethical to terminate the contract because of personal conduct. Also it is important that people who are role models act in a manner which promotes ethical behavior in the society, so to uphold this principle, it is ethical to terminate contract in case of unworthy personal behavior.
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