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Seth Godin, offers us an opinion piece about responsibility in marketing.

His argument is that:

1. Marketing Works. A lot of money is being spent.
2. If marketing works, it means that free choice isn’t so free.
3. People can argue all they want about free-choice and the market, but the facts are there that certain marketing, tobacco, etc. ruins the market it exists in (A sort of tragedy of commons but the resources being memes).

If you get asked to market something, you’re responsible. You’re responsible for the impacts, the costs, the side effects and the damage. You killed that kid. You poisoned that river. You led to that fight. If you can’t put your name on it, I hope you’ll walk away. If only 10% of us did that, imagine the changes. Imagine how proud you’d be of your work.

Certainly, people disagree, including Rick Toone:

Knowing that, you probably don’t want me to judge what would be considered responsible marketing. The world would look very different if I did. But, I respect the rights of others who choose to live by alternate values.

So, by whose values would we judge responsibility?

I’m inclined to throw responsibility back on the consumer.

I’m personally inclined to agree with Rick. Seth’s ideals can only have one net conclusion: a formulation of a big brother government, or a perfectly homogenized society in which everyone believes the same. Where is free will then?

There are plenty of things that kill. Snowboarding, hiking, swimming, as well as smoking, or eating too much. It’s these choices that lead to a free society that makes advertising and marketing possible, period. Otherwise, we might as well all dress in beige jumpsuits, get up exactly at 9, take a 20 minute walk (not run, because we might trip and fall) on the grass, eat oatmeal, go to work, come back, exercise, have sex twice a week, then go to sleep at 10– or whatever is the most optimal for our physical well being, regardless of personal choices. The fact of the matter is, eating too much or smoking makes some people very happy– more happier than other choices. Economics is about choices with scarcity. Marketing is about influencing these decisions. Doesn’t mean we don’t have free choice, just because the statistical trend is towards what markets want me to do.

Perhaps marketers think too highly of themselves. Maybe the simple awareness of a product can influence choices, and the whole field is the art of making people aware of the choices they have. There is a reason why smoking and eating too much are problems. They are fun to do sometimes. Desserts, cheeseburgers, and fries taste great, and people smoke for a lot of reasons other than their nicotine addiction.