Right now, there’s a lot of concern about sexism, racism and sexual harassment in the marketing industry. I’d argue there’s a larger ethics issue at play here and it’s been with us in North America since the Mad Men era. Eric Mower wrote a thoughtful article appearing in Advertising Age earlier this month titled, ‘If Character Is Destiny, What Does That Mean for Our Industry?’

As Mower acknowledges, the originator of the ‘Character is Destiny’ concept was Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher who lived 2,500 years ago. As you may guess, his idea was that how we act today determines our future. The key here is the act bit. We can talk a good story and still end up in purgatory. It’s how we act that matters.

Mowers’ more modern take is a bit more specific:

… what you see is what you will get—(that) present behaviors exemplify true character and that, more than likely, those behaviors recur and are predictive of outcomes. So when we experience or observe acts, be they public or private, that by normative societal standards are offensive, objectionable or unconscionable, we can expect a price to be paid down the road for whatever tolerance or indifference allow those behaviors to endure.

Despite what the marketing world likes to think about the world, the consumer and itself, we haven’t changed much at our most basic human level. And we must be very slow learners.

‘Character is Destiny’ is why I didn’t like what the Mad Men series said about our industry, or put another way, what the current marketing industry’s embracing of it said about us. (see: THE UNFORTUNATE GREATNESS OF MAD MEN).

Here we are in 2016, to some extent still the destiny of the Mad Men character. The real puzzle in all of this for me is not that many in marketing seem to be okay with the immorality side of the industry. We can all talk a good story to feel better about the moral issue. The real puzzle is that the clever-than-thou marketing industry acts as if it hasn’t made the logical leap articulated in the subhead of Mower’s article:

When Clients See the Character of Our Industry Sometimes Lacking, It May Cause Them to Reconsider Our Worth

Well, no kidding. I believe the problem is what Malcolm Gladwell describes in the first instalment [1] of his new-ish podcast series as ‘Moral Licensing’. No spoilers on this one.

Notes and references:
  1. Malcolm Gladwell, Revisionist History, Episode 01 – The Lady Vanishes