One of Aristotle’s three forms of persuasion was "ethos" or the appeal based on personality or character. As a PR practioner we must have a strong credible relationship between the company or client that we are working for and the public that both sides can trust that we are showing all of the information that we can and not hiding anything under the table. I haven't started working in the PR field in an internship and before this chapter; I occasionally worried that one day I might find myself at a company where I would be forced to twist words around or not tell the public the exact truth. I used to watch "Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place," and I remember that one of the characters worked as a spokeswoman for a chemical company and was told to lie about how there were other elements melting the ice, not the chemicals. After reading the chapter and the example of Starbucks, I now know that most companies (hopefully) are not like that chemical plant, but actually have ethical standards and use corporate social responsibilities to improve the community around them.
The hardest part with ethics is objectivity and advocacy or whether PR practioners should be more like lawyers or journalists. In my opinion, I think that I would rather be more of the journalist point of view because what if the something that your company hid from the public becomes publicized? The public would then wonder what else your company has hid from them and then your company will lose all credibility. I do understand that too much of objectivity and then the company wouldn't be able to keep some secrets of success from competitors and the public would have to know everything that goes wrong along with what went right. I realize that to really establish credibility, one needs to have a good balance between advocacy and objectivity or as Aristotle would call it, "the golden mean," but I might tend to lean a little more towards objectivity.
To remind us to incorporate ethical standards in all aspects of our work, the book discusses the Potter Box by defining the situation then to state the different values, consider all the principles, and identify all the different types of loyalties that need to be held. Another way to keep up our credibility is to work with charities and the community to connect to our public. The key is to work with a group that is somehow connected with the company and doesn't seem like a suggestion drawn from a hat. The company also cannot go half-heartily, but spend time and effort to really create a lasting relationship.
The Starbucks case study was interesting in that I liked how the corporation tracked down the firefighters who bought water on 9/11 to pay them back and then made sure that Starbucks did their part to help the people of NYC. I don't feel that bad buying a $3 cup of coffee knowing the ethical standards that Starbucks lives by that has kept it being nationally recognized as a great company to work for. The fact that Starbucks is now associated with the Fair Trade, costumers view Starbucks as a company who cares about the people growing the coffee, paying them a good price, and at the same time, helping the environment by it being organic and shade-grown beans. It's comforting to know that some of the corporate businesses are listening to their public who wants more organic and fresh products that are improving the environment that are not aiding the Green House effect.