| Sustainable Marketing: Social Responsibility and Ethics 587

Chapter 20 | Sustainable Marketing: Social Responsibility and Ethics 587

34 percent considered overweight. Some 32 percent of chil- dren are obese. This national weight issue continues despite repeated medical studies showing that excess weight brings increased risks for heart disease, diabetes, and other mal- adies, even cancer. 6

The critics are quick to fault what they see as greedy food marketers who are cashing in on vulnerable consumers, turning us into a nation of overeaters. Some food marketers are looking pretty much guilty as charged. Take Hardee’s, for example. At a time when other fast-food chains, such as McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Subway, have been pushing healthier meals, Hardee’s has launched one artery-clogging burger after another—gifts to consumers fed up with “healthy,” low-fat menu items. Its Monster Thickburger contains two-

Harmful products: Is Hardee’s being socially irresponsible or

thirds of a pound of Angus beef, four strips of bacon, and

simply practicing good marketing by giving customers a big juicy

three slices of American cheese, all nestled in a buttered

burger that clearly pings their taste buds? Judging by the nutrition calculator at its Web site, the company certainly isn’t hiding the

sesame-seed bun slathered with mayonnaise. The blockbuster

nutritional facts.

burger weighs in at an eye-popping 1,320 calories and 95 grams of fat, far greater than the government’s recommended fat in-

take for an entire day (65 grams). Although it appears to be bucking the trends, since intro- ducing the mouthwatering Thickburger line, Hardee’s has experienced healthy sales increases and even fatter profits.

Is Hardee’s being socially irresponsible by aggressively promoting overindulgence to ill-informed or unwary consumers? Or is it simply practicing good marketing, creating more value for its customers by offering big juicy burgers that ping their taste buds and let them make their own eating choices? Hardee’s claims the latter. It says that its target consumers—young men between the ages of 18 and 34—are capable of making their own decisions about health and well-being.

And Hardee’s certainly doesn’t hide the nutritional facts—they are clearly posted on the company’s Web site. The site describes the Monster Thickburger as “a monument to decadence—the only thing that can slay the hunger of a young guy on the move.” And the CEO of CKE, Hardee’s parent company, notes that the chain has salads and low-carb burgers on its menus, but “we sell very few of them.” So, is Hardee’s being irresponsible or simply responsive? As in many matters of social responsibility, what’s right and wrong may be a matter of opinion.

However, most manufacturers want to produce quality goods. The way a company deals with product quality and safety problems can damage or help its reputation. Compa- nies selling poor-quality or unsafe products risk damaging conflicts with consumer groups and regulators. Unsafe products can result in product liability suits and large awards for damages. More fundamentally, consumers who are unhappy with a firm’s products may avoid future purchases and talk other consumers into doing the same. Thus, quality mis- steps are not consistent with sustainable marketing. Today’s marketers know that good quality results in customer value and satisfaction, which in turn creates sustainable cus- tomer relationships.