Mr smith owns a chocolate candy company the manufacture the choconut big bar whi

Question

Mr smith owns a chocolate candy company the manufacture the choconut big bar which he sells for$2. The chocolate bar measures 6 inches long by 3 inches wide and ½ inches thick.it is sold with the bar wrapped in foil placed in a seal brown cardboard box with the name printed white. Currently mr smith is losing money because the cost of chocolate and nuts has increased beyond his budget.

Instead of cutting back on the quality of the ingredients, mr. smith is planning to cut the size of the bar to 5 inches long by 2 ½ inches wide and keep the bar ½ thick. He will keep the same $2 price per bar. He hopes that no one will noticed the change in the size of the barif he alters the outside packaging to a cheaper brown colored paper wrap with the choconut big bar name in white on the label. Mr. smith will advertise the new package saying- “it’s the same choconut big bar,-now in a new paper wrapper”.

Is mr smith marketing strategy an ethical issue or not? Why or why not?   

Explanation / Answer

Marketing ethics are the moral principles which are to be applied in operating and regulating of marketing.

Here in this case, Mr. Smith did not compromise on the quality of the ingredients, but instead he cut the size of the bar from 6 inches to 5 inches long by 2 &half inches from 3 inches and half inch thick. And he changes the outside packaging to a cheaper brown coloured paper wrap. But his advertisement with the new packaging will say that “it’s the same choconut big bar,-now in a new paper wrapper”, does not seem to be quite ethical.

Mr. Smith has concealed the information that the bar size is now smaller in a new packaging. Thus, the advertisement misleads the people and they will think that they are getting the same size bar but in a new pack. Though, Mr. Smith's actions are correct that without changing the price and on compromising the quality of his product he would cover the increasing cost, but his advertisement saying that it's the same choconut big bar, now in a new pack seems to be unethical in marketing. He should not hide the facts relating to the size cut of the bar.

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