ABSTRACT

This case study will examine the ethics of product placement in movies. According to Pfeiffer Law, a law firm specialized in entertainment, stated that "product placement in movies can occur without any sort of disclosure that an advertiser paid for the product to appear." The act of not disclosing product placements raises ethical questions. The use of product placement in movies will be examined using the TARES Test, which evaluates five principles for moral persuasion: truthfulness, authenticity, respect, equity, and social responsibility to determine if not disclosing product placement in movies is ethical. Immanuel Kant's categorical imperative will be used in support of the TARES Test results. The conclusion of the case study will include a final analysis about the ethics of disclosing product placement by answering these three questions; 1) How does product placement affect public perception? 2) Should all media outlets be held to the same standards in terms of product placement? 3) How do social media product placement ethics differ from the ethics of movie product placement?