Decision Point: Foodservice Manufacturer: Plastic Tableware Your first client of the day is a manufacturer of foodservice products for the restaurant industry, such as foodservice packaging and containers and disposable tableware. On the conference call are Gwen, the Director of Marketing, and Luke, the Director of Research and Development, and they seem to be on edge with each other. Luke starts the conversation by outlining the problem:

"Last year, we launched a new line of plastic tableware that was treated with an additive to start and speed up the degradation process. However, we have been running additional tests, and it now appears that degradation may not occur in landfills as fast as we originally expected."

Gwen sighs impatiently. "I'm hoping you'll be able to convince him that this isn't the earth-shattering problem he seems to think it is. It's more a matter of technicality."

"Perhaps I'm not understanding the problem," you interject.

"The problem is the ad campaign that the geniuses in marketing came up with," Luke answers. "Both the ads and the packaging claim that the tableware 'decomposes into natural elements soon after disposal,' and that's not true. It now looks like it may take as long as five years."

Gwen sighs again. "Look, the ad campaign cost a fortune and it worked brilliantly -- sales of this product line have gone through the roof. Now he wants to drop the campaign and change all the packaging based on his definition of the word 'soon.' The material does break down -- just not as fast as we thought. We're nitpicking here."

Luke responds hotly, "I don't consider false advertising to be nitpicking."

As the marketing consultant, what should you do?