Much has been made of Anheuser Busch's (NYSE: BUD) new "premium malt beverage" product called Spykes. Critics allege that the drink's small (easy to hide) size, colorful packaging, and caffeine are designed to attract underage drinkers. Of course the company denies the charge, but numerous groups are still calling for legal action. While I really am not familiar enough with the product or alcohol marketing to comment on this specific case, my issue is this: It is unethical for companies to consciously market their products to people who shouldn't buy them. Spykes draws inevitable comparisons to the Joe Camel ads of the 1990's, but here are some of the less obvious parallels:

• Predatory lenders luring in college students with credit card offers they don't understand, and mortgage brokers sticking lower-income people with subprime mortgages when they would have been better-served with one of the federally-subsidized programs. PeachDirect offers luxury items to college students on installment with exorbitant interest rates.
• Hungry-Man's thousand-calorie breakfast, which contains 231% of the recommended daily value for cholesterol in one serving. So the recommendation is that you consumer 2.3x as much cholesterol at breakfast as you should during that entire day. No one should eat this product, and companies shouldn't market products that are by definition bad for you.
• Several years ago, The Illinois lottery put up a billboard in a poor Chicago neighborhood with the slogan, "This could be your way out." Of course, people should never gamble with money they can't afford to lose. If you're poor, you by definition can't afford to lose money. It's wrong for anyone, most of all the government, to prey on society's least fortunate.

These are just a few of the examples that come to mind when I think of companies marketing to people who shouldn't buy their products. Can you think of others?