The Joneses

The movie, The Joneses, starts out with this picture-perfect family who just moved into the neighborhood. The Joneses consists of husband and wife, Kevin and Kate as well as the siblings, Jenn and Mick. The family was put together, and Kate was the leader of the team. Their goal as a “family” was to sell products from various companies in the neighborhood.

I would categorize the Jones family as personal selling as they made personal connections with the buyers. The way they strategized their marketing was excellent, especially on Kate’s side and more so Kevin once he realized how to connect with the dads in the neighborhood. Kate targeted the mom and hair salon whereas Jenn and Mick targeted people from their high school. Kate was a trendsetter in their neighborhood, everyone started following her style as soon as they saw it. Mick’s sales mostly came from his high school, he quickly gained popularity for the cool gadgets he had. On the other hand, Jenn’s sales came from the girls in their high school as they bonded over make up and accessories. I believe at one point diet pills were one pf the products she was promoting.

Based on what I observed in this movie, I believe that the way the products were marketed is unethical. The family befriended everyone in their neighborhood for their own gain, which is to increase company products’ sales. They may have developed relationships with the people surrounding them, but they were not honest to them at the start. Everyone in the neighborhood only found out the truth when Kevin came forward due to his guilt. Mick, who was promoting an alcoholic drink at a party ended up causing someone to get into a car accident. They knew the risks of the product, yet they promoted it to underage kids.

If I were friends with someone in the Jones family before I found out their secret, I would feel betrayed. The family did well marketing the products, but once you form a bond it would be very hard not to feel betrayed. The only thought running through my head would be was it only to sell the products and increase their sales? From the movie, Larry was affected by their strategy the most as he ended up committing suicide over his debts. This is one example why I would find it very hard to understand why they did it because this can affect people greatly in so many ways.