Ethics in Advertising
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This document discusses ethics in advertising. It provides definitions of ethics and explains that ethics are culturally based standards that determine what is right and wrong. The document then discusses various ethical issues in advertising such as deceptive, manipulative, and misleading practices. It outlines the Advertising Standards Council of India which aims to ensure advertising complies with their self-regulation code. The document also summarizes some sample advertising complaints that were upheld for violating codes. It acknowledges the challenging task advertisers face in balancing business objectives with ethical standards.
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Ethics in Advertising
- 2. What is Ethics? Advertising Ethical Criticism in Advertising Regulation In Defence The Future Conclusion Other Notes
- 3. Ethics are standards or moral values which dictate what is right and what is wrong, or good or bad, which are: culturally-based and formed based upon society’s expectations vary by situation and by person (everyone develops their own code of ethics)
- 4. Subjective & highly personal Ethical activity does not do harm
- 5. In a sense ethics really boils down to respect. Ethical people, ethical companies and ethical activities show respect for the world around them and are aware of the consequences of their actions upon others.
- 7. Dear Ann: I have a problem. I have two brothers. One brother is in advertising, the other was put to death in the electric chair for murder. My mother died from insanity when I was three years old. My two sisters are prostitutes, and my father sells narcotics to high-school students. Recently I met a girl who was just released from a reformatory, where she served time for smothering her illegitimate child to death, and I want to marry her. My problem is, if I marry this girl, should I tell her about my brother who is in advertising?
- 8. Questionable ethics in advertising: Ranked 43rd among 45 professions surveyed for honesty in Gallop poll.
- 9. Why is this the case?
- 12. deceptive advertising (e.g. credit cards) manipulative advertising (e.g. children ads) subliminal advertising (e.g. coke) stereotyping (e.g. cooking oil) fear appeal (e.g. insurance) sexual advertising (e.g. axe) misleading advertising (e.g. fast food)
- 13. The advertising industry has rarely looked beyond the immediate success of its work and the profitability of individual agencies. It has tended to operate in a vacuum with its only responsibility being to the Client’s marketing objectives.
- 15. In India, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), established in 1985, is committed to the cause of self- regulation in advertising. ASCI ensures the protection of the interests of consumers and was formed with the support of advertisers, agencies, broadcaster etc
- 16. To maintain and enhance the publics’ confidence in advertising. ASCI seek to ensure that advertisements conform to its Code for Self-Regulation which requires advertisements to be: Honest Representations Non-offensive to the Public Against Harmful Products/Situations Fair in Competition
- 17. In exceptional circumstances, when it appears that an advertisement is in serious breach of the ASCI Code and its continued transmission on/through/by any medium causes or has the effect of causing public harm and/or injury or its continuation is against public interest, then the ASCI would, pending investigation, direct the advertiser/agency to to suspend the advertisement.
- 18. Sample Complaints Upheld in Sept’ 13 No Company Product Complaint 1 Hindustan Unilever Ltd Ponds Pure White Face Wash “Pond’s pure white Face Wash contains Activated Carbon”, “This goes in the depth of your skin and removes dirt and pollution and saves you from being affected by any skin problems, get instant glow on your skin”, “Picture indicating “premature aging, wrinkles”. These claims need to be substantiated with necessary support data
- 19. Sample Complaints Upheld in Sept’ 13 No Company Product Complaint 2 Maruti Suzuki India Ltd Maruti Swift TVC shows a minor (boy wearing sun glasses) driving the Maruti Swift recklessly. Ad violates the guidelines on Ads for Automobile vehicles as well as the ASCI Code
- 21. Advertisers are constantly balancing.
- 22. We tell the truth -- but not always the Whole Truth. Like lawyers, our job is to put our clients in the best light. When you go on a job interview or a first date, you don't assume a false identity - but you probably don't make a full disclosure either. Chances are you keep your lactose intolerance and foot odor issues in the background, and save your Federation Starfleet uniform for later in the relationship - if there IS a later.
- 23. For a company trying to sell something, an ad is like getting a job interview with millions of people all at once. The ad wants to make a good first impression and really, really doesn't want to make people mad. But different people react differently.
- 26. "All of us who professionally use the mass media are the shapers of the society. We can vulgarize that society. We can brutalize it. Or we can help lift it onto a higher level.“ ~ Bill Bernback (Co-founder, DDB)
- 27. It is time that we all recognise the powerful influence we have both intentionally and accidentally on our economy, society and environment and behave in a more responsible manner At one level we need to ensure that our work never does harm by respecting the unintentional consequences of our actions.
- 28. At another we need to start to harness that power to do some good – not only to make our clients more profitable but to make our society happier and more cohesive and our environment healthier and more sustainable.
- 30. Nobody who ever worked in an advertising agency, even somebody who was bitter about working in an advertising agency, would really say those things. It's such an exaggerated view — lies, manipulations, subliminal advertising, and all that. Advertising's never been more honest than it is today. It has to be very transparent in the way it talks to consumers. Consumers are savvy. You can't succeed by feeding them lies and manipulations. It would backfire.
- 34. “Ethics in Advertising” Pontifical Council for Social Communications. URL: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/pccs/documents/rc_p c_pccs_doc_22021997_ethics-in-ad_en.html Chris Moore “Ethics in Advertising” Advertising Education Foundation. URL: http://www.aef.com/on_campus/classroom/speaker_pres/data/3001 Ramanujam Sridhar “The Trouble with Ethics” The Hindu URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/catalyst/2007/11/15/stories/20071115 50070200.htm William M. O’Barr “Ethics and Advertising” Advertising Education Foundations. URL: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/asr/v008/8.3unit13.html William <. O’Barr “The Advertising Profession in the Public Eye” Advertising Education Foundation. URL: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/asr/v007/7.1unit05.html
Editor's Notes
- (Plaque presented to Arnold Barban by the staff of Leo Burnett on his retirement from the agency.)
- Its not that advertising people are bad people hell bent on making the world a worse place but that we don’t take responsibility for our actions and we don’t respect anything but our client’s immediate business success and our financial bottom line.
- A lot of people question the ethics of selling consumers things they don&apos;t need - which presupposes that we shouldn&apos;t have the things we don&apos;t need but want anyway. We don&apos;t need 90% of the stuff in our apartments. We don&apos;t need artwork, among other things. Neanderthals didn&apos;t need cave paintings, but they sure brighten up a grotto. Why did so many of us bring bottled water - that we paid for - into this meeting room today, when carrying a canteen of tap water is so much more… rational? Advertising, like human beings, lives where Reason meets Desire. Years ago, The Coca-Cola Company invented a better product. No consumer product had ever been so thoroughly tested with so many consumers. This new Coke was provably much better. But consumers not only didn&apos;t buy it, they demonstrated against it. Because a lot of what they loved about &quot;real&quot; Coke wasn&apos;t inside the bottle. It was the idea of Coke and their experiences with it and how those experiences were connected to so much of what we imagine life in America should be like. Advertising isn&apos;t just about the things we buy. It&apos;s about how we feel about things, including ourselves. That&apos;s what makes it interesting.