Tobacco & Ethics
The Ethics of Selling a Deadly Product:
An Examination of the Tobacco Industry in America
Introduction When you see “Oreo cookies,” what is the first thing that comes to your mind? How about “Jell-O” or “Cool Whip?” Odds are it’s nothing more then they all are delicious - or that they are all pure sugar and really not part of a “healthy diet.” Either way, by purchasing any of these products you are, in fact, indirectly funding a corporation that contributes to the deaths of 438,000 Americans every year (CDC 2006). Kraft Foods, Nabisco, Marlboro Cigarettes, Parliament Cigarettes, and a myriad of other companies sit under the financial umbrella of the Altria Group (aka the Phillip Morris Corporation). So, with that said, how well do you really know the tobacco industry? Before proceeding anymore, it is important that the objective of our paper is stated. The purpose of this project was to identify and research an ethical dilemma in the corporate world. We have decided to examine the tobacco industry due to the fact that it is deeply infused in our culture and that it deals with perhaps one of the more significant components of ethics – free will. But for the time being, our main objective/ethical dilemma in short is: Is it ethical to sell a product as addictive and harmful as tobacco?
Ethics Ethics are essentially the rules of conduct established as a whole by specific societies in regards to its citizen’s actions; and/or on a more personal level, the moral principles of an individual. As for laws, they are the established sum of all the ethics, morals, and mores of its society governing the everyday affairs of life within it for its citizens, normally enforced by a superior governing entity. Though do NOT make the mistake, and this section is paramount, not all laws are universally moral or ethical. In the sense that an action may be legal, but not very ethical or moral (or at all).
An Examination of the Tobacco Industry in America
Introduction When you see “Oreo cookies,” what is the first thing that comes to your mind? How about “Jell-O” or “Cool Whip?” Odds are it’s nothing more then they all are delicious - or that they are all pure sugar and really not part of a “healthy diet.” Either way, by purchasing any of these products you are, in fact, indirectly funding a corporation that contributes to the deaths of 438,000 Americans every year (CDC 2006). Kraft Foods, Nabisco, Marlboro Cigarettes, Parliament Cigarettes, and a myriad of other companies sit under the financial umbrella of the Altria Group (aka the Phillip Morris Corporation). So, with that said, how well do you really know the tobacco industry? Before proceeding anymore, it is important that the objective of our paper is stated. The purpose of this project was to identify and research an ethical dilemma in the corporate world. We have decided to examine the tobacco industry due to the fact that it is deeply infused in our culture and that it deals with perhaps one of the more significant components of ethics – free will. But for the time being, our main objective/ethical dilemma in short is: Is it ethical to sell a product as addictive and harmful as tobacco?
Ethics Ethics are essentially the rules of conduct established as a whole by specific societies in regards to its citizen’s actions; and/or on a more personal level, the moral principles of an individual. As for laws, they are the established sum of all the ethics, morals, and mores of its society governing the everyday affairs of life within it for its citizens, normally enforced by a superior governing entity. Though do NOT make the mistake, and this section is paramount, not all laws are universally moral or ethical. In the sense that an action may be legal, but not very ethical or moral (or at all).