Question One

Would you categorize the way the Jones family lives as personal selling? Why or why not?

Personal selling is defined as the process of selling products or services to target individuals or people through face-to-face interactions. In this promotional method, the salesperson always uses his/her abilities and skills to make sales, and they mostly do that without the target consumer realizing their intentions. In the movie, the Jones family does not seem to be involved in personal selling in the traditional sense. Still, rather, they use product placement and influencer marketing strategies to sell products to their neighbors without using any advertisement strategies. The Jones family tries to portray themselves as people living an ideal lifestyle to influence their neighbors to emulate them and, resultantly, opt to buy and use similar products. This technique is called stealth marketing, which involves personal selling where the salesperson is not transparent to the target consumer.

Question Two

What similarities do you see between the sales tactics the Jones family employs and the marketing tactics of some of your favorite brands? Give an example.

The sales tactics used in the film by the Jones family are quite similar to the marketing tactics that most popular brands use in real-life situations. For instance, Audi, which is one of the most popular car brands in the world, has been using product placement within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The main character of Iron Man, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Junior) is often seen using the Audi R8 in all the Iron Man films, and this is a strategy that Audi has used to advertise their product through partnering with the film industry. Other good examples are brands in the fashion industry like Louis Vuitton and Channel, which use influencer marketing and celebrity endorsements to reach their target audience and make them desire to use their products (Eisend, 2020). The influencer marketing and product placement are currently among the most effective marketing strategies, so several brands have been using them.

Question Three

Based on what you read in the course materials and what you observed in this movie, do you think the way products are marketed in this movie is ethical?

The ethical implications of marketing products in this film are open to interpretation (Kolter et., 2016). The family is actually using the products they are marketing and not forcing their neighbors to buy them. However, the Jones family is living a fake lifestyle, making people buy products they do not need due to feelings of inadequacy. This strategy seems manipulative and raises questions about the ethics of marketing and advertising.

Question Four

How would you feel if you were friends with someone in the Jones family before you found out their secret? What about afterward?

I would feel manipulated and deceived if I were friends with the Jones family before realizing their secret. It is okay that they are trying to make sales but the fact that they are not transparent would make me lose my trust in them. After knowing their secret, I would be even more disappointed for how there are capable of deceiving me and others for financial benefit because this signifies lack of integrity.