Cruise line faces backlash over allegedly deceptive marketing claims: ‘This is their attempt to make themselves look good’

Swiss cruise line MSC Cruises made waves with a promotional video for the “future of cruising,” during which the company made the case for sustainable cruise ships. 

Click here to read the story at news.yahoo.com.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is publicity?
2. Why is managing publicity important to a business or brand?
3. Can publicity be controlled by the business or brand? Why or why not?
4. What is positioning?
5. What do you think MSC Cruises hoped to accomplish with the release of the “future of cruising” promotional video?
6. How might it explain the company’s positioning strategy?
7. What type of publicity did the video result in for MSC Cruises?
8. What is greenwashing?
9. What is deceptive marketing?
10. What are ethics?
11. Do you think MSC Cruises promotional video represents an example of greenwashing? Do you think it was deceptive marketing?
12. Do you think greenwashing is legal? Is it ethical?
13. What about deceptive marketing?
14. How do you think consumers will respond to MSC’s claims of sustainable cruise ships? Will it result in more bookings? Or will the negative publicity result in fewer bookings? Be prepared to discuss your answers in class.