Major Scandal Starts "Character Counts Week"

As NY State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer files another lawsuit against the insurance industry, a week celebrating character begins--and author Shel Horowitz starts a world-wide Business Ethics Pledge movement to make the next Enron impossible

HADLEY, MA (PRWEB) October 18, 2004 -- Yesterday, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced his latest ethics crackdown: a lawsuit against insurance giant Marsh & McLennan that also implicates American International Group and others. Their brokers, he says, claimed to have researched the best insurance price, but actually took kickbacks to recommend certain vendors regardless of price.

Meanwhile, Sunday starts National Character Counts Week, celebrating the Six Pillars of Character: Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship. (More about this initiative from the Josephson Institute of Ethics at http://www.charactercounts.org/)

Shel Horowitz, author of Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First, finds the timing ironic. Disgusted with the continuous litany of business scandals, Horowitz has started a movement to find 25,000 business leaders who understand that behaving ethically is not only good for consumers, it's also good for business. "If 25,000 people each reach 100 others with this message, I believe we can make the next Enron impossible," the award-winning 47-year-old author said. "Yes, one person can make a difference. And one person working with others, can make a huge difference." Soft-launched in July, the campaign has already reached signers in six continents.

To sign the Business Ethics Pledge, please visit http://www.principledprofits.com/25000influencers.html

Journalists: to interview Horowitz about the pledge campaign, or to obtain a review copy of Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First, please contact him at 413-586-2388, shel@principledprofits.com

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