I would imagine that during the early discussions when creating the IMC program one topic was tossed around as a possible class to offer as part of the curriculum: ethics. After all, each of us as marketers must deal with ethical issues in our day to day lives. For many, I think that ethics are assumed, but I believe they must be a daily exercise and a tested area of expertise.

Why am I bringing this up? Because I got burned. I’m in the process of car shopping right now. I’m not quite sure what type of car I’m looking for; SUV or sedan, domestic or foreign. For that reason, I’ve been scouring the newspaper and studying each of the car dealer ads. One advertisement this past weekend jumped out to me and motivated me so much to make a half hour drive to the dealership and test drive a specific vehicle. Fast forward three days to an ongoing negotiation between my husband and I and the dealership, who at this point is offering me a monthly payment nearly $100 more than the advertised price and a down payment in excess of $2,000, an amount that advertised as $0 down in the original ad.

Ultimately, my husband and I walked away from the deal. We walked away because the salesman admitted to us that the advertisement was misleading and done purposefully to get customers in the door.

Car dealerships don’t hold exclusivity on this type of misrepresentation and unethical behavior. How many times have you taken part in a promotion to find that certain details were omitted from the marketing? How often have you been mislead by the fine print? Even I can admit that there have been marketing efforts I’ve been a part of that may not have been entirely forthright.

The American Marketing Association puts forth a code of ethics that offers suggestions on honesty, fairness and accurate representation. So often, though, the almighty goals of sales, awareness and revenue can blind us to these all important elements of our practice. Active implementation of this code and an ongoing exercise of its guidelines should be an integral part of all of our work.

In the end, I think we all can agree that ethics in marketing will provide us with a long-term, positive relationship with consumers. Maybe this topic will someday even appear as part of our IMC curriculum. In the mean time, will I go back to that dealership? Possibly. Will I tell others about the experience? Definitely. Hey, I may even write about in a blog!