What is unethical issues of promotion?

We know that promotion is used to boost the sales of the products. However, I heard that there are some companies that use promotion tools in an unethical ways. Can any of you share the example of unethical issue? -khunvi

An issue that I was just reminded of as I opened my email is SPAM! -AZBroker

Unethical promotion could include deception in the form of misleading information about a product or service. Anything that gives a false impression to the public. Other forms of unethical promotion include conflicts of interest or inappropirate inducements such as contributions, bribes, kickbacks, gifts, etc. -SalesCoach

I guess hidden fees, or ambiguous terms & conditions would fall under the unethical umbrella too, would they not? -CarrieGee

When I think of unethical advertising I think of car sales ads. The old bait and switch. ;thd -Mikey

Thank you very much for sharing your ideas. You guys really give good examples for me. -khunvi

I think I could add giving negative points on the other products that you are competing with. I guess there are some countries that allow this but I think its unethical telling what you think is negative with the other product. Just make your product the best that the customers will be the one to say that it is the best. -encoder

How is that promotion? :cu -Iceman

Using sex in advertising to sell products to kids. Have you seen the Hollister ads? http://www.hollisterco.com :( -Marcus

Malware is an obvious one. I may tolerate spam but any product I get linked to through malware is banned from the house.

Also things that seem to be free but are not. Like they say it is a free anti-virus but only detecting the virus is free, removing it cists money. Or like thinkall which seems to just charge shipping for software but there is a monthly subscription hidden in the fine fine print. -rattitude

Withholding information like the harmful effects of using a product or the full terms of an offer. -WobblyBox

This is certainly the first one that came to my mind, too. Finding mail clogging up my mailbox for hair growth when my hair is very long... and for meds to... uh... make parts of me grow that I don't even HAVE as a girl. It drives me mad!

Unethical would also be saying things about a product that just aren't true and promising things that you know very well the product won't deliver. -destiny

In Europe and the USA, we have a number of small, disreputable publishing houses and for profit websites who write and promote books and webpages glorifying the 1933-1945 Nazi tyranny.

The main attraction of "their worship" is Adolf Hitler, they write about him and Himmler, Heydrich, Goebells and Goering as if they were supermen saving Europe from Communism and [the alleged]"World Jewry". [There is no World Jewry-its a myth]

They fail to mention the murders these men committed, the invasions they planned and authorised, they ignore the military war deaths on both sides, even worse they claim the death camps did not exist. Their motive is book sales, sales of photographs, sales of emblems, and receiving fees for giving speeches to White Nationalists, to Racist groups, in doing so they promote hate on a national scale. They hate blacks, browns, Jews, Catholics, Homosexauls, and immigrants. They probably hate door to door salesmen and real estate brokers. They ignore the achievements of other races and Joe Louis, Jersey Joe Walcott, George Foreman and Ezzard Charles [etc] are non-people to them. Joe Louis and the other fine men mentioned might disagree?

Whats evil about these people is that they know the suffering the Nazis caused, they've heard of the blatant atrocities, the villages burned and reduced to rubble and the inhabitants shot, they say this was justified, that these things happen in war, its useless telling them that German mothers weep at the loss of their sons and the destruction caused. All to no avail. They are evil. -Incidentally

Bandit signs, blind ads and other illegal advertisements. -Houston

I think sites that display bogus Internet awards are unethical.

I saw that listed as a strategy at one sight, and after that I recognized the graphics at other sites claiming they'd received awards. -Ricardo