Victoria’s Secret brings millions of viewers to the television each year for its annual Christmas fashion show. With a budget of 10 million dollars, and using almost as many cameras as the Super bowl does, the Christmas fashion show is a major event both to Victoria Secret and its viewers. This year the fashion show includes the scantily clad models decorating a Christmas tree with a choir singing Christmas songs through the crowd. Many wonder if this event is ethical for two reasons. One being that the show is centered on Christmas without even the mention of Hanukah, Kwanza or other holidays. Another question about the show is whether it is ethical to have half naked women on a main network channel, CBS, at prime time. Our book states that “right or wrong decisions depend on whether others see your actions as acceptable or unacceptable” (Fulginiti 296). The shows ratings have dropped from 9 million viewers in 2002 to 6.5 million viewers last year. Maybe viewers are loosing interest in the show? That seems to be highly debatable although, considering the show has been called one of the biggest nights on television. The Christmas issue deals with the values of the people putting the show together, the models in it, and the viewers. Considering it seems highly unlikely that all the models in the show are Catholic and celebrate only Christmas, their decision to participate in the show is their moral decision. If the millions of viewers are watching the show, clearly their moral values are not being violated. Due to the reputation Victoria’s Secret annual Christmas fashion show holds as being one of the biggest nights on television, I think it is safe to say that the company is not violating anyone’s values or morals.
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8T7J0NG1.htm
