i received a private message about this problem.

here are a couple of other things wrong with choices (a) and (c), other than what mitch has already pointed out:

(a)
* "with an awareness that there are connotations..." doesn't convey a reasonable meaning -- it suggests that the company representatives know that there are connotations, but don't necessarily know what those connotations are.
analogy:
Aware that there are sensitive meanings associated with the words, Bob spoke them carefully. --> in this sentence, bob may not actually know the sensitive meanings ... but at least he knows that they exist.
Aware of the sensitive meanings associated with the words, Bob spoke them carefully. --> bob actually knows what the sensitive meanings are (i.e., he could explain them if you asked).

the correct answer more logically states that the companies are aware of the connotations themselves, and so are acting accordingly. that makes a lot more sense than the meaning in (a).

--

(c)
this is the same error i wrote about here:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/pos ... tml#p26678
this post expands a bit more on what mitch is saying. (this error is usually a lot more troublesome for native speakers of english than for non-native speakers, as it mimics the way in which people speak english, rather than the way in which it's supposed to be written.)