Hassell 1

Sophie Hassell
Professor Jizi
University Writing 1103
17 November 2015
Annotated Bibliography
Boyd, Colin. "The Nestl Infant Formula Controversy and a Strange Web of Subsequent
Business Scandals." J Bus Ethics Journal of Business Ethics 106.3 (2011): 283-93. Print.
The company, Nestl has been under much criticism over the past few decades. One of
their most horrible marketing ploys include babies in third-world countries. Nestl
marketed their baby formula by distributing it for free at hospitals and by falsely telling
mothers that the formula was better for the babies than breast feeding. As a result of using
the formula, babies became susceptible to disease in the contaminated water sources, lack
of key nutrients found in breast milk, and the inability for their families to afford the
Nestl formula. Many babies died and people from around the world took action,
boycotting the company for their wrong doings.
Extreme examples of unethical marketing are always hard to read about. This article
pertains to my topic of ethics in marketing because it provides a sickening account to the
extent some companies are willing to go to make more money. Although this article does
provide information about the Nestl marketing controversy, it was not as good as I
thought it would be. I found other sources that provided more details about this topic, but
they were not from very credible sources. This article does provide a brief overview of
what happening during the 1970s and 1980s but was not very detailed.

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This source is very credible. There is a list of its many sources at the end of the article as
well as multiple notes to inform readers of what is being discussed and where to find
more. Also, this article comes from a larger journal all about business ethics and provides
information about how the author has a background in business topics like such. It is also
peer reviewed which means it has been observed by other people.
Brock, Sam, and Kinsey Kiriakos. "Urban Outfitters' Controversy a "Mistake" or Marketing
Ploy?" NBC Bay Area. 16 Sept. 2014. Web. 14 Nov. 2015.
Urban Outfitters has been known to carry controversial and offensive products. It is said
that they are participating in outrage marketing or shock advertising meaning that they
purposely create an uproar from different communities to gain media attention. Although
they have apologized and removed many of their products, Urban continues to produce
more insensitive products. After selling a Kent Sate sweatshirt that appeared to be blood
spattered, Urban Outfitters gained thousands of new followers on social media and even
increased their profits.
Reading this article made me realize the marketing strategy that Urban Outfitters is
doing. Although the company is receiving very negative press, they are marketing their
products to young adults, their target market. This article is very relevant to my tropic
because it provides an excellent example of unethical marketing and how companies will
do anything in order to increase their profits. By discussing Urban Outfitters habitual
offensives over the last few years, it is easy to see how outrage marketing is a core
component of their marketing methods.
This article is a credible source because it comes from a thoroughly researched segment
of a well known news broadcasting company, NBC. This article comes from a section

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called Reality Check where the news caster Sam Brock truthfully discusses different
topics occurring in society. Sam Brock uses interviews, visuals and research to provide
accurate and useful information to his viewers. He is known to find credible information
for his segment.
Dakss, Brian. "Marketing to "Tweens" Going Too Far?" CBSNews. CBS Interactive, 14 May
2007. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.
Tweens are the focus point of a $300 billion target market. Knowing this, marketers have
established secret agents, girls between the ages of 8 and thirteen, to try out products
and share what they like with their friends. The Girls Intelligence Agency (GIA) provides
new products to young girls to test out and share with their friends during slumber
parties. With little approval from these girls, companies can fail to succeed with the
product. This marketing strategy is a more extreme version of word of mouth that teaches
the young girls to use their friends to promote products. These girls are used for so many
different categories including technology, fashion, and even developing a pop stars
image.
This article really surprised me. I knew that young children are a major part of the
consumer industry, but I was unaware of exactly how prominent they are. It is interesting
to see the different tactics that marketing specialist enact but scary at the same time to see
the way they are implemented. This strongly relates to my topic of marketing ethics
because the practice of marketing to tweens can be seen as extremely unethical. Not only
are these children taught at such a young age about always having to have the best stuff,
it also teaches them to exploit their friends to gain popularity. This article provides a great
example of how marketing has gone too far and how unethical some strategies can be.

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The "Marketing to "Tweens" Going Too Far?" article comes from the credible source of
CBS news. This article is paired with a news video that shows multiple interviews and
actual evidence of the GIA program in action. While this article does have a negative
attitude towards marketing to the young children it also presents an unbiased overview of
how this marketing strategy works. The article also provides additional sources for
readers to continue their research and find out more about marketing to tweens.
"Ethics of Marketing." Sage Brief Guide to Marketing Ethics. Ed. Lisa Shaw. Los
Angeles: SAGE, 2012. 72-86. Print.
Marketing ethics is a controversial issue in which there is not legal actions that can be
taken in most cases. Companies have the right to decide how they want to market their
product even if their methods are not just. Only in the recent years have marketing ethics
entered the business world. Marketing executives have the decision of being ethical or
exploiting their powers to make more money. Because profit is a huge component of any
business, many companies choose to use unethical and insincere tactics to make their
product known. Misleading images, marketing directly to children, and poorly judge ads
are just some example of unethical marketing. Dealing with punishment for such has not
yet been established thus leaving the decisions up to the company marketing their
product.
Marketing ethics need to be understood before exploring the topic further. Because of
this, it is important that I read about the many components of marketing ethics to begin
my research. This chapter has provided me with the knowledge that marketing ethics is
grey area that may never be fully comprehended. People will always have different
opinions when it comes to how products are marketed. It is interesting how difficult it is

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to regulate marketing ethics because no real laws have been implemented to control
companies marketing strategies. This book/chapter really helped me to understand
exactly what I will be researching and pointed me towards finding examples of unethical
marketing campaigns.
This book is a very credible source. Published in 2012, Sage Brief Guide to Marketing
Ethics, provides a recent analysis and informative perspective on the ethics of business
and marketing. This book remains objective when providing the information, simply
sharing examples and providing important key terms. In the preface, the purpose of the
guide is stated to inform readers on marketing and business ethics, which it does.
Murphy, Patrick E., and Eugene R. Laczniak. "TOMS: One for One Movement!" Ethics in
Marketing: International Cases and Perspectives. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2012.
133-142. Print.
TOMS Shoes is an example of a business that has practiced components of ethical
marketing. Customers feels good about purchasing the shoes because they know another
pair will be donated from them to children in need. These shoes have been promoted by
celebrities and regular people. Shoes are extremely important for children to have
because they provide them with health benefits and give them many opportunities to
better themselves. Whiles TOMS is a for-profit organization they have a strictly volunteer
based organization called Friends of TOMS. This organization provides the shoes to the
children in need and make sure the shoes are going to those who really need them. In
order to market their products, TOMS majorly relies on inexpensive word-of-mouth ways
such as their customers sharing their experiences with the product and social media.

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While this is unlike many companies that spend millions of dollars in marketing, it sticks
to the TOMS message and has proved extremely successful.
In the beginning of my research, I was interested in finding companies that have
practiced unethical marketing. When I found this chapter, I wanted to read into a
company that has marketed their product(s) in an ethical way that stands firm on their
message. TOMS shoes has created a unique business model that works with their limited
marketing budget. I was captivated with the background of this company and the
legitimacy in which TOMS finds the children to give their shoes to. This chapter is
relevant to my topic on Marketing Ethics because it provides a detailed analysis of how
TOMS shoes is an ethical marketing company. This also pertains to my topic because it
demonstrates how not every business is looking to make the most money they can no
matter how they market their product. Although TOMS can be viewed as very ethical in
many ways, this demonstrates how controversial marketing ethics really is. Components
of the TOMS movement can be seen as unethical by some people. This just goes to show
how difficult it is to be perceived as a strictly ethical company.
This is a credible source because it comes out of a recent 2012 book whose objective is to
provide insight into the marketing world. Ethics in Marketing: International Cases and
Perspectives contains multiple examples of marketing dilemmas and issues that face
todays society. Along with this, the book also discusses positive examples of marketing
ethics to provide its readers with multiple perspectives of the marketing world. The
purpose of this book is to educate students and readers with real life examples of
controversial ethical topics.
Peer Review Notes:

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During Peer Review, my group determined by sources were credible. My group members
acknowledged that each source came from the last few years which shows they are up to date
with modern concepts. One issue that my group found was with the source for the Urban
Outfitters article. I had written that NBC is a credible source. It was pointed out that NBC has
been known to be opinionated and not very objective in the news that they report. I agree that
this article was not completely objective but I did find the author/newscaster is very credible. He
is known to use multiple research tactics to ensure he reports accurate information. I changed this
section to better state the credibility.