Question: To entice buyers to its store, Ace Drug Store advertised a product for sale as being "at our cost." In fact, it had no such product in its store on the sale dates. When a customer asked for the product, he or she was told that there was such a demand that the store ran out of it and gave the customer a rain check instead.
1. Assuming that the store's tactic didn't violate any consumer protection laws, was it ethical for the store to advertise as it did?
2. Does it make any difference that the store gave the customers rain checks?
3. To be ethical, how many of a product advertised as being on sale do you think a store should be required to carry?
4. How much control do you feel a governmental unit should exercise over the advertising used by businesses?
5. Many pharmaceutical companies put a small number of pills into a large opaque bottle to convince buyers that the bottle is really full. Do you feel this is an unethical practice that should be prohibited by law?