Week 4 - Principles of Marketing: A major office equipment manufacturer and an airline once teamed up to offer a special deal: Buy a copier/printer and get a free round-trip ticket anywhere in the United States where the airline flies. The promotion didn’t last long—buyers complained it was unethical. What about it was unethical? Who was really doing the complaining? by Jonathan Gordon

aleude63 — 2025-02-26 14:01:44 UTC

This promotion technique is unethical because both of these companies belongs to different Industries and backgrounds and have nothing to do with each other. Customers would complain, Buying a printer Is a totally odd item to get for a airline trip. Most customers wouldn't go out of their way to buy a printer but instead, just buy a plane ticket by itself. While this could benefit the printer company I really don't see how this is helping Airlines.

2025-03-04 02:50:14 UTC

It’s interesting to think about how promotions like this can backfire, even if the intention was to offer something valuable. The issue here seems to be that the "free" round-trip ticket was likely overshadowed by hidden costs or restrictions that made it less appealing to customers than they expected. It’s a reminder of how important it is to be transparent and clear when promoting offers; customers want to feel like they’re truly getting a good deal, not something that feels like a trick. In the end, it seems like the buyers were the ones who felt misled, which caused the backlash against the promotion.

anthonymazzeo — 2025-03-05 00:01:51 UTC

Anthony Mazzeo

I feel this type of promotions would be deemed unethical due to how much these products contrast from each other, and how these companies don't have any sort of link to one another. If a person had the initial intent to purchase a printer, then this promotion would make sense, but, to anyone else, buying an entire printer to receive airline tickets wouldn't truly provide the benefits of the promotion. The cost of the printer/copier may justify the air fare, but the deal would seem too sketchy. After the promotion ended, the airline would be complaining because of how they were seemingly a part of the promo to benefit the office equipment company.

2025-03-05 14:50:09 UTC

Although the promotions intention was positive, this can be deemed unethical due to the polarity of the products. If you want a successful deal, you should consider making it related to your company. Printers have no connection with airline services therefore, it doesn't fully have a positive impact on the airline company. The airline ended this promotion most likely due to the negative backlash they received. Its important to consider all factors when it comes to a promotion, you need to consider your target markets needs and wants. I assume that the airline company was the one doing the complaining, due to the fact they they didn't receive the the outcome they anticipated.

2025-03-06 16:58:29 UTC

I think this promotion was deemed unethical because a copier/printer and a plane ticket are not at all related. These two things have nothing to do with each other and most people don't wanna buy a copier or a printer for plane tickets. It also might seem like a sketchy deal. Buying a copier or a printer for free round-trip tickets anywhere in the United States makes no sense and most people probably would not trust the deal. I think the airline company was the one doing the complaining because most likely no one was doing this deal and the airline company was not benefiting from it at all.

2025-03-07 02:57:44 UTC

I think this promotion could be seen as unethical because of how unrelated the two products are to each other. Most people looking to buy a round-trip ticket for anywhere in the U.S. are not looking to buy a copier/printer at the same time. The deal is not very convenient for the customers, whose value is the primary priority, or the companies for that matter. I personally don't see how this promotion is helping the airline company. A customer may participate in this promotion which would contribute to the sales of the office equipment manufacturer, but it would overall result in a loss of money for the airline company due to the fact that no one would be buying from them, only receiving something from them. The customers were complaining because they did not see the connection between these companies or the point of the promotion. However, I think that the airlines should've been the ones complaining because the deal was not promoting the company or enhancing its growth in any way.

adiros33 — 2025-03-07 14:46:19 UTC

I wouldn't necessarily say that the promotion was unethical, nothing about it was morally wrong. I'd say that it's not useful and weird. A printer and a plane ticket? That doesn't correlate at all, nor make any sense. There's really no benefit to the genre of people looking for a copier/printer, just very random. Not advocating for buyers wants and needs. I'm not surprised people complained, it's kinda ignorant. Also only the equipment manufacturer would only benefit from this, so I'm assuming this wasn't thought out very well.

2025-03-07 14:52:35 UTC

I think the reason why the deal is unethical is because the products are not related to each other. I don't see any correlation between printer and plane tickets and most of the time people who just buy a printer wouldn't plan to take a long trip somewhere. The printer company offers a "free round trip around the country which might seem like a great a deal for people who intentionally bought the printer just for the printer and not the deal but to some people it make the promotions sound sketchy because they'd need to buy a printer just for plane tickets.Since there's no correlation between the two products, it makes the deal seem untrustworthy so people would most likely not use the deal or they would think that the deal is not worth the money. At the end , the airlines companies will be the one complaining because they collab with the printer companies hoping to make some benefit off this but turned out they didn't make enough profit from the deals.

2025-03-09 17:41:02 UTC

Based off of the information provided, I would say wat made the deal unethical was how it harmed the business of other competitors. Some airline ticket prices are very likely more expensive than copiers or printers. Simply buying one would get you a free flight on a designated airline, taking away customers for other airlines who would actually pay. With this, it is safe to infer that the people actually complaining were the competitors of airline as they were losing customers, and not the buyers involved with the deal. The competitors likely argued the deal was unfair and granted them an unfair advantage in the airline industry.

2025-04-29 01:38:00 UTC

There are several reasons why this could a unethical deal; the tickets could be very expensive, and the fact that you get a "free" trip could lure in customers to buy something they are not in need of,

The airline could be new or poor quality with a low price, and although people want to purchase a ticket and get a "free" trip, the printer might be similar or the same in price, which makes the customer want to buy an unnecessary item for a high price.

Overall, the reason it is unethical is because it causes unnecessary temptation in buyers, making them want to buy an item that isn't needed. The ones complaining could be the customers, saying words like "This is ridiculous! Why should I buy a printer, something so useless, to get a free trip?!"