Controversial Marketing Ethics

For marketers, profits and ethics are major factors to make business decisions and how businessmen perform become heatedly debated. The Japanese restaurant, Ajisen Ramen, would be introduced below to discuss the ethical issues and challenges it faces nowadays. Ajisen Ramen is popular but its business practice reveals the darkened side of marketing activity- dishonest advertisements. To fulfill locals’ fancy to healthy food with greater nutritive values and lesser harmful chemicals, owners of Ajisen Ramen used to claim the soup contained beneficial nutritious elements like Calcium and collagens as it was stewed with pork/fish bones. [1] They also purported that the Calcium level of a bowl of 360-ml soup vending was equal to 4 times of that in a cup of milk. [2] The company took how healthful the soup was as its selling point and deceived consumers the freshness of the soup. What it did is undoubtedly intolerant. Ajisen Ramen’s bad behavior was exposed after many reporters investigated to question the validity of its claims. Disappointedly, its representative professed the soup was made of concentrated soup powder. Yet, it is furious that the spokesman still emphasized the powder was made of fresh pork bones. [1] Besides, concentrated soup not consumed by customers was taken as the sample for testing but the company just quoted the gorgeous statistics without stating clearly what the sample was, masking the fact that there is only 48.5 mg of Calcium in one bowl of selling soup. [2] Moreover, the company overuses food additives like Sorbitol threatening humans’ health[3] but it still insists the products are nutritious and under quality controls in its website.[4] That Ajisen Ramen persistently performs wickedly is observable. Three frameworks, including values, stakeholders and processes could analyze Ajisen Ramen’s cheating activity. Processes are varieties used by marketing specialists such as studies and promotions. The company promotes the beauty of its

References: [1] Lo. (July 25, 2011), 味千濃縮液溝水製骨湯 內地傳媒踢爆始承認　每碗成本僅幾毫, in Apple Daily. Retrieved October 5, 2011, from http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/template/apple/art_main.php?iss_id=20110725&sec_id=4104&art_id=15461360 [2] S. H. Chan & S. Y. Fu (July 26, 2011), 面湯底料走俏 配料成分堪憂, in Jiefang Daily. Retrieved October 5, 2011 from http://big5.xinhuanet.com/gate/big5/news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2011-07/26/c_121722443.htm [3] C. Y. Lee (July 26, 2011), 味千陷骨湯門 熬制的是商業機密還是商業欺詐, in XinHua Daily. Retrieved October 5, 2011, from http://big5.xinhuanet.com/gate/big5/news.xinhuanet.com/food/2011-07/26/c_121720590.htm [4] A. Ramen(2010), 經營理念及成就, in Hong Kong Ajisen Company Limited. Retrieved October 16, 2011, from http://www.ajisen.com.hk/web/about02.html