2. 2
Short Case: Organization
Memorandum
To: Brett Fatten, Senior Management
CC: Tim Jackson, CEO
From: Wendy Lile, Management
Date: 8/4/2013
Re: Ethical Issues in Advertising
Due to the recent events of contamination of 120,000 bottles of our natural spring water, it is my ethical
opinion that we cannot launch the new ad campaign that we were soon hoping to. Not yet anyway, as
long as there are contaminated bottles out there.
My suggested plan would be to first terminate the plant worker that contaminated the machine. Next,
recall the 120,000 bottles that are on the shelves, if they are on the shelves or dispose of them if they are
still in the factory. This is actually the deciding factor as to whether or not we launch the new advertising
campaign. If the contaminated bottles have not left the factory yet then we can clean out the machines
and any trace of the chemical, then launch the new commercial without missing a beat. The only
drawback will be the money that will have to be spent cleaning up the factory.
On the other hand, if the bottles have been released to the public, it will cost us a lot more since we will
have to issue a recall stating the details of the chemical released and the reason why they were released.
This will drastically hurt our reputation at first, but it will eventually look good that we took care of the
situation with ethical standards. Once the bottles are recalled and off of the shelves, we can launch the
purity campaign and continue with business as usual.
CONFIDENTIAL
