JUUL is a vaping company designed to make e-cigarettes. Their ethical issue is that their marketing campaign is aimed towards youth. They're producing and distributing tainted products that have been linked to multiple illnesses and deaths; in some cases kids. Their marketing campaign is specifically targeted towards a younger generation, with them having advertising pages on Instagram and Facebook. Their sites are aimed towards young adults and teens. Their Juul ads are made to be appealing to youth, as they portray things like dancing to club-like music and clothing styles more characteristic of teens than mature adults. Juul’s launch events and parties also often featured youth-oriented bands and free samples, and are promoted alongside ads that make pods seem like “sweet treats” and make “juuling” seem like casual fun.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kathleenchaykowski/2018/11/16/the-disturbing-focus-of-juuls-early-marketing-campaigns/#1a24685014f9

Primary Stakeholders

Employers (C.E.O of JUUL)

The employers/ C.E.O of JUUL are primary stakeholders because the scandal affects them directly especially because they are the ones behind it, and are the ones responsible for their marketing of their product and control their marketing team. Their interests are that their product is a world recognized brand and can sell as much of their product as possible. The scandal affects them because they are the ones that are being sued in the lawsuit. Also it resulted in the C.E.O resigning.

Investors

The Investors are primary stakeholders because they're money is directly affected by what happens to JUUL. Their interests are for their shares in their company to go up. Therefore they want JUUL to sell as much of its product as possible. They lost money because of the scandal it caused JUUL shares to drop drastically.

Consumers

The consumers are primary stakeholders because they are the ones consuming the product and are affected if there's something wrong with the supply or if they are bring sold something they aren't aware of. Their interests are in buying the products JUUL is selling for reasonable prices. The consumers are affected because they could've possibly been targeted to a product they shouldn't of been targeted as well as possibly being exposed to tainted products.

Employees

The employees are primary stakeholders because they work for the company that is being sued and if found guilty could cost them their employment. Their interests are to earn wages from the company. The scandal could affect them by hurting the company they work for and could lead to unemployment if their company is forced to go bankrupt.

Suppliers

The suppliers are primary stakeholders because they are the ones directly supplying the company with what they need to distribute their product. Their interests are for JUUL to buy as much of their products as possible so they can distribute them to the consumers. The scandal affects them because if JUUL is forced to go bankrupt then they won't be buying any more of the suppliers' supplies, which in turn, hurts their company.

Secondary Stakeholders

FDA

The FDA is a secondary stakeholder because they are impacted by the actions of the company, and they don’t directly contribute to the company or influence it, but do so indirectly. The Food and Drug Administration is impacted by JUUL's actions and then forced to make actions of their own. Their interest in JUUL is that they make rules and regulations for these companies to follow, and have standards and procedures that go into the making of the product. The products JUUL releases must be within code of their laws. How the FDA is impacted by this event is that because JUUL is releasing harmful products to younger kids, and these products are harmful and causing negative feedback and posing health risks to users, most young. The FDA will now have to step in and put laws in place to increase safety in products or put a ban or products in production or in the sale of these products. They have done this by having Juul announce that it will temporarily halt the sale of its flavored nicotine pods in all retail stores. Customers are still able to buy all Juul flavors on its website.

Community

The community is a secondary stakeholder because their actions don't directly contribute to the company or influence their actions, but instead the company's actions affect the community. The community can include the teenagers and young adults that are users of JUUL and are affected by the product, or their family that has their kids affected by this product, and in turn with the health risks and medical bills they have to pay. The community's interest in the business would be to create a safe environment for families to grow up in, free of health risks. How the community is impacted by the scandal is that since the marketing campaign is targeted towards kids, it will appeal to kids and they will purchase the product. This can lead to obvious health risks, sometimes death or cancer, but it can also just as dangerously lead to addiction and have young and innocent kids hooked for life. This would cause this upcoming generation future health risks, a shorter life expectancy, and possibly an increase in taxes in the future to support all those affected by JUUL users. The community doesn't want to see that happen.

Competitors

Competitors are secondary stakeholders because they are impacted by the actions of the company, and they don’t directly contribute to the company or influence it, but do so indirectly. Competitors, such as VUSE, SMOK, Logic, or Mipod, are affected by JUUL's actions indirectly. If JUUL releases a new product to the market that has never been seen before, these competitors have to keep up with products of their own to keep up with the market. As well, if JUUL has good sales, the competitors might have to lower their prices in retrospect to JUUL in order to attract customers to lower prices. Competitors have an interest in JUUL because JUUL is the largest e-vapor cigarette on the market, and these competitors want to create a product to attract customers to them and have a unique and better product. The competitors are impacted by this event because JUUL is starting to market towards the younger generation who are susceptible to advertising and all the perks of their ads like free samples, sweet flavours, and a sense that you have to be cool to have one. Before, the target market was towards middle aged people, most often men, and people who are trying to quit smoking or want a "safer" alternative. Now, JUUL is marketing towards youth and attracting buzz and demand from this scandal. This will cause competitors to want to make more money and join in on the action. Competitors will start to also market towards the younger generation to get sales, advertise e-cigs as fun and cool, and make flavours that are sweet and appealing to youth.

Media

The media is a secondary stakeholder because they are impacted by the actions of the company, and they don’t directly contribute to the company or influence it, but do so indirectly. The media are the ones that advertise JUUL and its competitors, and in this case the bad advertising. They have no say in the direct actions of JUUL, they only portray their actions online or on TV to the world. The media's interest in JUUL is that JUUL pays them money to advertise on whatever platform they want such as social media like instagram or television advertisements. The media is the one that portrays the picture of JUUL and advertises their products and their company. The media is impacted by this event because they were the ones that were advertising this stuff online to young adults and teens and are largely responsible in this scandal for portraying vaping as fun or cool with sweet flavours that you can do anywhere. This causes a backlash towards the media about bad advertising and its positive portrayal of JUUL. However, the media can also be put in a positive sportlight through this scandal because with this spotlight, new advertisement on popular social media platforms or articles online can be written about the major health risks surrounding JUUL and vaping, and how you can stop and places you can get help from. It can also display the hefty fines you can get from vaping in public and the consequences that arise from that in poublic spaces and property.

Government

The government is a secondary stakeholder because they are impacted by the actions of the company, and they don’t directly contribute to the company or influence it, but do so indirectly. The government is impacted by the actions of JUUL and other companies related and are then forced to take actions of its own. The governments interest in JUUL is that it is the one that can ban and make regulations on products of that nature. As well, these companies are important to the government because they are still companies that generate revenue, pay taxes, create jobs, and help the economy grow as a whole. How the government is impacted by this event is that the government is now forced to take action in regards to bad advertising and health risks. Because of more youth vaping, there is more health risks and deaths reported, which means time spent in the hospital, which means more medical bills and more money to be allocated to that sector, which would mean more taxes. As well, there would need to be money put into research now to find concrete benefits and risks of vaping, which is going to cost a lot of taxpayers money. Finally, they will have to further take action if they deem necessary to help this epidemic; such as how Juul was forced to announce that it will temporarily halt the sale of its flavored nicotine pods in all retail stores and will discontinue its social media promotions. Customers are still able to buy all Juul flavors on its website.

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