Make me a Star
Who doesn’t want to be a movie star? I know that growing up it was my absolute dream. I loved watching the film premieres on television and seeing the gorgeous outfits as the stars walked down the red carpet. I definitely remember walking down Hollywood Boulevard for the first time and seeing the names of the celebrities on the ground. I would be holding my mother’s hand and looking up to her asking for each star’s full resume.
Years later, my birthday rolled around and to my delighted surprise a friend of mine handed me my very own Walk of Fame Star — complete with my own name engraved! It was a 12in x 12in square, beautifully hand painted to look exactly like the stars in the ground. I was floored (no pun intended). When I looked up the company, Gift of Fame Enterprises, I saw that my plaque was painted by the actual artist that hand-paints the stars that each celebrity gets to take home. You’ve seen them: the star that the movie stars get to hold to commemorate their special day. The one you see in the footage all over the news. So not only did I have my own Walk of Fame Star, but I had one made by the same person who makes them for the real celebrities! I will never forget the gift.
However, I digress. In researching the company, I did not find a strong social media presence. This disheartened me, as I believe the company would be gaining a lot of business through the social media atmosphere. I reached out to see if they wanted help running their pages, as I have some experience in the matter. I explained to them a plan of melding their product with photos of the celebrities holding the products as well. However in doing so, I realized that we had the possibility of running into a lot of issues when dealing with such high profile content. I decided to write out this Code of Ethics to ensure that everyone in the company followed the rules as we ventured into the new world of social media together.
CORE ETHICAL EXPECTATIONS
- Employees must abide by the ethical standards in all aspects of the company.
- Employees must provide customers with quality products delivered in a timely manner.
- Employees should avoid misconduct in the workplace, including but not limited to sexual harassment, profanity, violence, theft, or destruction of company property.
- Employees are expected to keep the privacy of all clients.
- Employees shall protect the integrity of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. For example, Company shall not debase the Walk of Fame Star by adding profanity or the likes for any client.
- Company shall give a percentage of each Star sold to the Holly Chamber to be put toward the upkeep and beautification of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
ETHICAL EXPECTATIONS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA
- Gift of Fame (also seen here as “Company”) shall not post any information about Walk of Fame Star ceremonies or the celebrities involved before this information is announced to the public. Because Gift of Fame knows inside information from the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce about upcoming Walk of Fame ceremonies and dates, Company is expected to keep this information private and not post any information online before the Chamber of Commerce has made a public announcement.
- Company shall not post any misrepresentations or misinformation about any celebrity or client.
- Gift of Fame shall give photo credit to any photos used on social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. Company is expected to either tag or give written credit to the photographer who took the photo if the photo has not been taken by Gift of Fame itself.
- Gift of Fame shall respect the privacy of all clients. The Company may ask clients for their permission to post photos of the client with our product. If denied, Company is expected to acquiesce to the request. If the client allows the photo to be posted on social media, Company will only post the amount of information agreed upon beforehand with the client.
- Company shall respond to any client’s worries or concerns in a calm and professional manner. If a client is publicly upset, Company shall take the conversation to a private communication channel as soon as possible.
IN THE EVENT OF AN EXTERNAL CRISIS
- Company shall gather all possible information before responding to the external crisis.
- Company shall temporarily pause all social media posts and engagement until a consensus on how to handle the crisis has been formulated. This includes any pre-planned or scheduled posts.
- Company shall inform the entire staff of its position on the external crisis in order to present a united front to the public.
- Company shall take responsibility when responsibility is expected to be taken.
- Company shall formulate a plan of action in the case of such a crisis.
- Company shall inform the public of these plans and follow through.
If Gift of Fame follows these guidelines and all parties remain communicative, the company is sure to have a successful venture into the land of social media and the ethics involved.
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