“Free cancer in a bottle.” “Free infertility in a pill.” “Free disorder in a magazine.” This is what many advertisements would read if companies would tell their customers the truth about the precautions and terrible side effects of many products. Since no one would buy a disease or cancer in a bottle, many companies try to hide and conceal information about their products in an attempt to get the customer to buy their product. In doing so, they commit a type of customer fraud by making false claims about the safety of their products.
Customer Fraud Overview
Customer fraud is a type of unethical business behavior where a company purposely deceives customers through methods such as false advertising and claims. For instance, a company may employ …show more content…
This scandal involved the tobacco companies and their use of denialism and customer fraud to keep sales up. In the late 1900’s, researchers began publishing many studies that revealed the terrible effects of tobacco including addiction, lung cancer, tooth decay, oral diseases and premature birth. Prior to this research, tobacco was considered “safe” and commonly used. When this groundbreaking research came out, people became more reluctant to buy cigarettes and tobacco products. Big tobacco companies feared that they would quickly loose sales, thus they attempted “to attack and deny the science of second-hand smoke,” in order to keep their business alive (Cho, Martens, Kim, & Rodrigue, 2011). Not only did the tobacco companies try to discredit and attack the scientists, but they also “fail[ed] to warn [customers] of the dangers of smoking, conceal[ed] data about addiction and other dangers, from the public, as well as continue[d] to neutralize the warnings on cigarettes by deceptive advertisements” (Quinn, 1989). In fact, the big tobacco companies continued to assert that their products were safe, knowing how toxic, addictive and carcinogenic tobacco is. They continued to act unethically by depicting “conscious indifference and utter disregard for the life, health, safety and welfare of their consumers,” by selling “products that were unsafe and defective” (Quinn,
Customer Fraud Overview
Customer fraud is a type of unethical business behavior where a company purposely deceives customers through methods such as false advertising and claims. For instance, a company may employ …show more content…
This scandal involved the tobacco companies and their use of denialism and customer fraud to keep sales up. In the late 1900’s, researchers began publishing many studies that revealed the terrible effects of tobacco including addiction, lung cancer, tooth decay, oral diseases and premature birth. Prior to this research, tobacco was considered “safe” and commonly used. When this groundbreaking research came out, people became more reluctant to buy cigarettes and tobacco products. Big tobacco companies feared that they would quickly loose sales, thus they attempted “to attack and deny the science of second-hand smoke,” in order to keep their business alive (Cho, Martens, Kim, & Rodrigue, 2011). Not only did the tobacco companies try to discredit and attack the scientists, but they also “fail[ed] to warn [customers] of the dangers of smoking, conceal[ed] data about addiction and other dangers, from the public, as well as continue[d] to neutralize the warnings on cigarettes by deceptive advertisements” (Quinn, 1989). In fact, the big tobacco companies continued to assert that their products were safe, knowing how toxic, addictive and carcinogenic tobacco is. They continued to act unethically by depicting “conscious indifference and utter disregard for the life, health, safety and welfare of their consumers,” by selling “products that were unsafe and defective” (Quinn,