do you agree or disagree, why or why not with the below?

Would you give a legal product the name of an illegal drug in order to increase sales?

Although I personally would not name a product of an illegal drug, it is a great marketing idea to increase sales. Having "Cocaine" as the name of a product instantly grabs the attention of consumers. Whether they decide to buy it not, they will certainly stop and take time to look at the product. Just by getting that attention, you will get people who are intrigued about the product and purchase it. For marketing, it is a good idea, but I would not feel comfortable using a highly potent drug as the name of my product.

Is Redux Beverages behaving in an ethical manner? Why or why not?

I do not believe that Redux is acting ethically. To put it in simple terms, they are using the name of a drug which kills and ruins peoples lives to bring in sales. It is almost equivalent to putting a racial or homophobic slurs on a product just to get attention. Redux is not considering the dangers of cocaine and is promoting the drug by putting it on the bottle.

do you agree or disagree, why or why not with the below?

There are plenty of other adjectives and nouns in the English language that you could use without using the name of an illegal drug. Ignition, lightning, wired, or jolt are just a few suggestions of possible product names to use for an energy shot or drink. I would not give a product the name of an illegal drug, or anything else suggestive of that nature, just to increase sales. While I'm not going to go on a campaign to have the product 'Cocaine' banned, I do however think that Redux acted unethically in this case, especially when the product name is accompanied with inappropriate slogans like, 'the legal alternative' or 'liquid cocaine'. This product targets young people, and people in poor communities where drugs are often present, and regardless of whether they mean to target this segment, they are being targeted. They are launching their marketing campaign on a rock band tour, which definitely targets young people attending the shows. Redux meets FDA standards, but it was a long road getting there when it shouldn't have been. I was glad to hear that the company put a drug warning on their label and adjusted their label's font to not look so much like powder that had been cut up by a razor. Now there is little difference between them and the cigarette companies who have a warning on their labels and suggestive ads when their products are actually harmful. However, as a marketing director I would have never even gone there with an illegal drug name as my product name, and I think in conjunction with the slogan the FDA was fair in issuing the warning that forced Redux to rethink their product packaging and forgoing the slogan all together.