There has been a recent trend in the rise of obesity in the world especially in the US having been termed as a global epidemic, which led to the creation of documentaries, the latest one entitled “Fed Up”. The rise of this documentary’s popularity prompted me to watch the documentary, and upon watching the film, I’ve discovered that marketing is a tool used to mislead consumers into buying a firm’s products. Marketing is and has been used to its extremes, some using borderline ethical practices. In a commentary, Marketing in the Future: Back to Basics?, Roger Layton (1998) states, “Michael Baker raises an interesting and important question when he asks, ‘has marketing a future?’ And, if so, ‘what will this be?’” This led me to question the future of marketing as well. Will the future of marketing be all about deception? Are we going to used unethical practices to earn money? What will be our future?
Deceptive practices of advertising are used by firms. Commercials, tarpaulins, billboards and all advertising tools are all giving us overly exaggerated statements that are too good to be true. A good example of this is Subway, a fast food restaurant, which put up a deceptive commercial which promises a 12-inch footlong for $5 in the US. In James Hulbert’s (1998) commentary, Marketing of the Future: Some Additional Thoughts, he quoted Peter Drucker’s conception of marketing, he states, “Marketing is not only much broader than selling, it is not a specialized activity at all. It is the whole business seen from the point of view. Concern and responsibility for marketing must therefore permeate all areas of the enterprise. (Emphasis added)”. Firms are supposed to be focused on the consumers, but all they are doing are giving out false promises that make us believe that we, as customers, are king.
Firms are taking advantage of technology to come up with ways to get closer to us, or so they make us think they’re getting closer. They are not only getting closer to our wants but rather they are getting farther and farther away from it. They make us think into believing that what they offer are the things that we want. In Marketing of the Future: Some Additional Thoughts, James Hulbert (1998) states, “Increasingly, firms will have to develop innovative ways of getting closer to customers so as to identify, in the words of the Spice Girls, ‘what (they) really, really want.’” The change of trends and technology help the firms to reach more customers; such as the rising trend of social media advertising and viral marketing. These innovative ways of marketing create strong brand relationships and brand loyalty because they manage to put their brands into our minds as often as possible. Marketers are indeed geniuses at creating advertisements that attract the consumers.
Firms work together to eliminate a common threat to their industry. In the documentary, Fed Up, it features that various segments in the food industry rejected the report of the Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs about the dietary goals for Americans. The various segments united to reject this report, demanding a rewrite which managed to revise the dietary goals removing the words “reduce intake” and encouraged people to buy products with less fat and leaner products. The rewrite of this report led to the rise of products that have reduced fat content. Almost every food items are releasing line extensions of products with less fat. Not only did they win with the rewrite they also managed to create a new market segment. In the journal, Added value, enterprise value and competitive advantage, authors David Walters, Michael Halliday, and Stan Glaser quoted, “Pine (1993) and Day (1999) both infer the need for collaboration and cooperation (even competition) in the new economy market place.” With the fast changing trends in our current generation, this new economies pushes marketers to work together to keep their industries alive.
Marketing is indeed the source of a business’ success, marketing is used to reach the customers and to attract them to buy their products. But with the firms’ use of deceptive advertisements, false promises, technology and borderline ethics, will customers continue to be swayed by these ads or will they start to recognize the deception and take action? Hundreds of commercials with overly exaggerated claims are being shown daily, we are continuously being misled by firms to believe this advertisements. And as consumers, we are continually being attracted and trusting to these firms. Will deception really be the future for marketing? Will the customers be enslaved to the firms’ brand promises? I believe that marketing has infinite possibilities and that they shouldn’t be limited to using unethical practices. A firm that uses marketing with honesty will generate more brand relationships and loyalty than a firm that uses deception.
The Discourse of Life 