Responsibilities Essay, Research Paper

Almost every time one turns on the television he will see some sort of

advertisement. Shoes, cars, phone companies, and many other

products are advertised every day. We see all sorts of commercials

where the end is full of fine lines that are displayed so fast that one,

whom is not a speed reader, could never read it before it is taken off of

the screen. This leaves the viewer with only the knowledge of what he

saw in the commercial without the fine wording at the end. There are

also radio advertisements, billboards, and fliers containing false or

misleading advertisements. Is it fair that many of the advertisements

that businesses have today are misleading? No, this is not fair. I

believe that business?s have an ethical responsibility to society to be

honest, not misleading. Reasons that I believe this include: fairness

and moral obligation.

An ad on the television states that used cars can be bought for a

very small amount. This makes one want to run out and buy the car.

He goes to see the car. It looks and drives fine. The salesman says

that the car has had one owner, and had never had any problems. The

customer buys the car. A couple days later the car has some major

problems. With a little searching on the title, the owner found out the car

had been wrecked. This is not fair. It is not fair for advertisements or

salesmen to be misleading. This customer has officially been ?ripped

off?. This is not uncommon, How is one supposed to trust businesses

when they have been ?ripped off? and seen or heard of other people

being ripped off?

What ever happened to people that had morals that governed their

everyday life? Salesmen can look one straight in the eye, without even

flinching, and tell a bold faced lie. This is very wrong. Other people ?get

around? having to tell one a lie, For example, the car salesman

mentioned above was not asked if the car had been involved in an

accident. He did not exactly lie, but was morally incorrect. This is very

wrong. Businesses have a moral obligation to be honest. How can the

salesman let the customer drive away knowing that he ?ripped the

customer off?? Where are the morals? Or should I say, ?What are

morals??

In conclusion fairness and moral obligation are two reasons why

businesses have an ethical responsibility to society to be honest instead

of misleading. These days one can not even trust the advertisements

he sees. However, some customers do fall for the misleading ads.

One should be able to go buy a car without checking out the car?s

history or the salesman?s possible criminal record.