A US pharmaceutical company has claimed for years that their medication would cure headaches, but they were lying the entire time. The medication was nothing more than candy that they sold as medicine so they could make a high profit. What should happen to this company and why? Nothing; a company in a capitalist economy can say whatever they want as long as they make a profit. Nothing; it is the consumer’s responsibility to figure out if a product is living up to its claim and stop buying it. A punishment; unfair practices and false claims are not tolerated under government supervision. A punishment; the United States. has a laissez-faire economy except for pharmaceutical companies, which is the only market that is strictly regulated.

David burdick is the ceo of acme bubblegum, a successful public company. as one of the cofounders of the company, burdick has enjoyed speaking and writing about the success of acme bubblegum for several years. typically, he speaks at conferences or directly to the press, but recently, he has been blogging about his firm anonymously. specifically, he defended a recent advertising campaign that was unpopular among consumers and pointedly attacked one of acme bubblegum’s competitors. burdick deeply enjoys his anonymous blogging and believes that none of his readers actually know that he works for acme bubblegum.should burdick be allowed to praise his company’s performance anonymously online? should he be allowed to attack his competitors without disclosing his relationship with the company? how would you feel if the ceo of a company at which you shopped was secretly writing criticisms of his or her competition? how would you feel if you knew a writer for your favorite blog was actually closely involved in a company that the blog discussed? 1. define the ethical issue? 2. who are the primary stakeholders? 3. what are the possible alternatives? 4. how could you evaluate the ethical implications of the alternative actions (use appropriate decision rules)? 5. what action would you recommend and why?