The Ethics of Marketing: Death, Consumerism, and Kobe Bryant's Legacy

This report analyzes the marketing strategies deployed following the death of Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, focusing on the commercialization of his legacy and the resulting impact on consumer behavior. The author discusses how the high demand for Kobe's sneakers led to price hikes and reseller activities, prompting Nike to intervene. The report explores the ethical implications of exploiting emotional connections for profit, drawing parallels with price increases during emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic. It emphasizes the importance of consumer awareness and ethical considerations in the face of opportunistic marketing practices. The speech aims to make the audience understand how industries utilize the marketing strategy to attract consumers.

Running Head: SPEECH
Name: Speaking Date:
General Topic: Death and Marketing Strategy
Specific Purpose: The speech aims to make the audience understand how industries utilize
the marketing strategy to attract consumers.
Organizational Pattern: subjective
Introduction
The news of the death of Kobe Bryant and his thirteen years old daughter Gianna was a
shock to the world as they both died instantly in a helicopter accident. The news was huge
and traumatic for the world of sports, for he is considered to be one of the greatest basketball
players of all time. It shook every single fan as he had become a symbol of hope and faith for
people striving upwards. Among all these, what got my attention was marketing and the price
rocketing of the Kobe’s line of sneakers.
Body
After the tragic death of Kobe Bryant in January 2020, the fans were heartbroken and to
commemorate their hero started buying souvenirs. Moreover, the best souvenir for someone
who lived on his feet and for football fans were sneakers. The Kobe Bryant series of sneakers
went in high demand due to which Nike closed the online sale.
As a football fan myself I understand the rush for the sneakers of the Kobe series and I can
attest for the rise in the price. It was due to various resellers buying them and selling them for
a higher price. The marketing strategy chalked out of the death of a person who was a symbol
of faith in people is something that should be resisted.
The death and the marketing strategy is not the only case when we see the hike in prices of
the commodity in demand; it has been seen in the case of any emergency. In the case of the

1SPEECH
epidemic in China, the online shopping sites and dealers have unnecessarily increased the
price, which was again seen as the result of excessive purchase in order to hoard it. The
period which should be used to show compassion and understanding are turned into profit
accumulation.
As soon as the death of Kobe Bryant was announced, the fans rushed to buy souvenirs of
their hero, but the commercialization of the product led to the destruction of the essence. The
Series was divided into various ranges, and editions began to show up in the market, and this
market gives rise to materialism in the sense of hoarding and making a scene out of the death
of someone. It also led to reseller buying it in huge quantity and then selling it for a higher
price. This market sustains as there is a shortage of availability which has been created by the
reseller out of which they earn better now. It led to Nike taking the step to control the
commercialization out of a traumatic period.
Conclusion
The commercialization was stopped by the effort of Nike to stop the price hike and the
opportunistic method to gain from the emotional connect of the fans. The profit reaping
approach of industries shows the ugly side of business reality with the price hike seen during
the epidemic in China. It can be controlled by the consumers by controlling the purchase and
waiting for the seller to increase the quantity.
Bibliography
Butt, Zafar Iqbal, et al. "EFFECT OF DOPING BELIEF ON PURCHASE INTENTION OF
SPORTS CONSUMERS (SC)-IN PRESENCE OF ATHLETES'BRAND IMAGE." Science
International 28.4 (2016).

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Crepeau, Richard C. "Kobe Bryant." (2020).
Russo, Joseph V. "On The Death of Kobe Bryant."