Business Ethics

According to this article, Steve McQueen will be the next celebrity to endorse some Ford models, including the Mustang. While the underlying idea of “so-and-so likes it, so I should buy it too” is abysmally bad reasoning, as a good capitalist, I normally don’t object to celebrity product endorsements. Bad logic is the responsibility of the thinker. Celebrity product endorsements are ethically objectionable, though, if there is deliberate dishonesty, e.g., if the pitchman doesn’t even really use the product. Or -- if the pitchman is dead! Steve McQueen doesn’t make a choice here to endorse the product at all. This is worse than a deceptive ad campaign, this is a non-consensual ad campaign. Inasmuch as it appeals to McQueen’s star power as a selling point, it’s both deceptive and non-consensual. Similarly, the idea that Laurence Olivier is “co-starring” in Sky Captain is appalling.