Since March 1990, Whittle Communications has been offering "Channel One" to the nation's junior and senior high schools. Channel One provides a centrally prepared, ten-minute daily newscast accompanied by two minutes of commercials. Schools that sign contracts with Whittle receive the program as well as a satellite dish, two VCRs, and a 19-inch TV monitor for each classroom. They may also receive teaching guides and other materials, including other video programs. By most accounts, more than 12,000 schools are currently showing Channel One to about eight million of the country's 13-18 year-olds.

Critics of Channel One charge that it is inappropriate for public educational institutions to even appear to endorse specific products or advertisers, and that Channel One signals the further penetration of the marketing efforts and over-commercialization that dominate so many aspects of our lives. Conversely, others contend that Channel One's news programs provide students with timely and stimulating reports about important current events while giving schools valuable video equipment that can also serve as a useful educational resource in a variety of other applications and contexts.

Using the following homepages for reference, discuss and defend your own opinion of Channel One. Has Whittle "stepped over the line" by introducing this kind of marketing into our schools? Would you describe Channel One as exploitative ? Explain.

Channel One http://channelone.com

KIII Communications http://www.kiii.com/html2/education/channel1/channel1.html

http://www.fair.org/extra/best-of-extra/tv-classroom.html

http://www.vineyard.net/awa/issue2/unplug.html

The Consumer Law Page is an award-winning Website providing an incredible assortment of consumer rights-related news, information, and other resources. Take a few minutes to peruse this remarkable homepage before answering the questions below.

The Consumer Law Page http://consumerlawpage.com

a) Using examples from this Website, illustrate and explain the three broad areas covered by consumerism (see p. 600). What specific resources are available through this homepage to empower consumers in each of these areas?

b) Identify and explain three examples of consumer action (see p. 601). How would you assess the effectiveness of these actions?

Sometimes a company's marketing activities have unintended results. Take the case of Absolut Vodka's unique advertising campaign based on eye-catching, highly stylized graphics which most commonly appear in major magazines. These brilliant ads are so popular with the public that a fad has developed around collecting them. You can find numerous personal homepages featuring Absolut ad collections by following the Yahoo! link sequence below:

Yahoo! http://www.yahoo.com

Entertainment ® Drinks and Drinking ® Alcoholic Drinks ® Vodka ® Absolut

As harmless as this may seem to you, many parents and educators are disturbed by the fact that growing numbers of teenagers and younger children are getting caught up in this fad. Fearing that these ads encourage underage drinking, concerned citizens are calling for Absolut to change its advertising strategy. Take a look at the Absolut corporate homepage to see what (if anything) this company is doing in response to these objections.

Absolut Vodka http://www.absolutvodka.com

How has Absolut addressed this situation (if at all)? What do you think Absolut's responsibility should be with respect to this trend? Do you think these ads encourage underage drinking? What are the ethical issues surrounding this situation? What would you do if you were the marketing director for Absolut?

You might not immediately associate multi-national oil and petroleum producers with environmental sensitivity, but today's consumer market demands that companies like Mobil and Chevron address some major environmental issues. To see what a few of these corporations are doing in this area, take a look at the following Websites:

Amoco http://www.amoco.com

Chevron http://www.chevron.com

Mobil http://www.mobil.com

Shell http://www.countonshell.com

How would you characterize each company's approach to the environment? What specific programs have they developed to address environmental issues? Does any one stand out above the rest with respect to progressive environmental policies and practices? If so, how?

Would you say that any of these corporations are carrying out green marketing strategies? If so, give examples and explain your answer. How do you think these companies will need to change their marketing mix strategies as the world's finite supply of oil is consumed?