Public relations and ethics go hand-in-hand.

The Public Relations Society of American (PRSA) has established a code of ethics for its more than 28,000 members. Three categories – professional values, principles of conduct and commitment and compliance - are outlined in the code. PRSA stresses that ethical standards need to be imposed during every campaign so that stronger relationships rooted in trust can be established between the client and firm.

PRSA identifies six core values: advocacy, honesty, expertise, independence, loyalty and fairness – that professionals should follow. Public relations firms and practitioners should represent their clients' views or products in a positive manner, the organization says, and the information about the causes/products should be communicated to the public in an honest manner. Facts and statistics should be accurate and reinforced with credible research.

Companies outsource the duties of public relations to outside firms because they rely on the advocates' expertise in the field. PRSA says PR advocates should be up on new trends in the marketplace and study case studies to prevent the repeat of past failures. Clients must have ruthful counseling, it adds, and the firm should be committed to fulfilling the needs of a client as outlined in their contract. Clients, employees, competitors, media and the general public are all to be treated fairly.

Listed in the code are six provisions – free flow of information, competition, disclosure of information, safeguarding confidences, conflicts of interest and enhancing the profession – that members agree to follow.

As an example, competition is defined as a "core principle promoting healthy and fair competition among professionals [to] preserves an ethical climate while fostering a robust business environment." Members should "promote respect and fair competition among public relations professionals and serve the public interest by providing the widest choice of practitioner options," PRSA's code states. Guidelines that a professional should follow include the preservation of "intellectual property rights in the marketplace," and following "ethical hiring practices designed to respect free and open competition without deliberately undermining a competitor."

Examples given for unethical usage of competition include when a PR professional shares information about the client with a competitor and when "unfounded rumors" are spread about a competitor to create a negative image.   

Damage Control
When PR firms breach the public's trust, there's no telling how damaging the fall-out will be. In the past two months, there have been several alleged ethical lapses related to PR and marketing.

The recent New York Fashion Week contained gossip beyond the usual model hatred and designer name-dropping. Marc Jacobs International Co. LLC was accused by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo of paying $30,000 in bribes - cash, exercise equipment and computers – to use the 26th Street Armory's show space. KCD, the PR firm that represents Jacobs, is said to have been the middleman when the clothing company paid off the Armory's administrator, according to PR Week.

In addition, ads for cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor featuring Dr. Robert Jarvik are under review by a congressional committee, PRSA reports. The ads depict Jarvik running up hills and rowing, but a stunt double was used for the rowing scenes.