Is Advertising Ethical?

Christy Stephens

Question 2 – Is Advertising Ethical?

The world of advertising is so broad, there are so many different adverts for different products, services and people that it would be impossible to talk about even a quarter of them. Statistics show that we are subjected to approximately 2000 brand names every day. These are everywhere we look, when we pick up a pen, when we walk to college and especially when we watch television. These adverts are impossible to ignore even if we wanted to.

Advertising is a businesses tool to convince the public that what they are producing is a necessity. Each advert is specifically targeted at an audience and is placed in different locations to attract this audience’s attention. Adverts can attack at any of the five senses of the human body, sight, hearing, tough and even smell or taste.

The advertising industry is continuously attacked with criticism and disapproval from the general public. Many people think that advertising is encouraging materialism, obesity, taking advantage of children, using sex to sell products and manipulating our buyer behaviour.

It is a person’s own opinion on advertising that is important, in this essay I am going to look at the two sides of the story and writing in my own opinion whether or not I think advertising is ethical.

ETHICS – A system of moral standards or principles

To start with I am going to mention the tobacco and alcohol industry.

Up until very recently, tobacco producers were allowed to advertise their products. One tobacco advert that my parents remember is the Consulate advert with the slogan “as cool as the mountain stream”. This advert was obviously stating that smoking was the cool and hip thing to do and that if you didn’t smoke then you wouldn’t be part of the in crowd! Many critics argued that adverts like these caused and increased consumption of cigarettes and tobacco and as these products can have a harmful effect on a person’s body and can even cause death, it was thought that it was wrong to advertise these products and that this type of advertising was unethical.

Nowadays, these type of adverts are banned, and instead of sending out promotional messages about smoking, on the back of every packet of cigarettes and every pouch of tobacco in Britain, there is a bold message stating how bad smoking is for you.

There are now disturbing adverts on television showing people who are close to death as a result of smoking and although these adverts are very alarming, I think the shock tactic is extremely effective and has really opened up a lot of people’s eyes.

This is a preview of the whole essay

The alcohol industry on the other hand is permitted to advertise their products, however similar the effects of drinking alcohol and smoking are. They can both cause death if consumed in excess and alcoholism is actually looked down on in society today., more than smoking is. However the adverts are still permitted which I think is very unethical. Even though the adverts are not broadcasted until after the watershed, they are still sending out the message that it is a carefree by time and they are not stating the long term affects of excessive alcohol binging. I think this type of advertising is very unethical and untruthful and even though I am a student and do enjoy a drink on the weekend, I think there should at least be other adverts out in conjunction with the alcohol ones, giving the facts about alcoholics and the long term effects of drinking.

Advertising can involve unethical tactics from a business. For example, when the Playstaion2 was introduced to the public about two years ago, it was seen as the one and only games console to have at Christmas. The adverts were very tactful, making children think that If they didn’t have a Playstation2 for Christmas then they were not going to be part of the “in” or “normal” crowd. Parents were nagged by their children and made to think that if their children didn’t get the new Playstation2 then they would be seen as bad parents and their children may be bullied for not conforming to society.

When it came to purchasing this console at Christmas, the producers not making enough to satisfy the demand for the product made matters worse. This was done on purpose so that the product looked more desirable now that they weren’t available, allowing Sony to increase the price when the product became available again. Children would be unhappy on Christmas day, but Sony weren’t bothered about this, they were making sure that their product would sell more and have a longer lifespan.

This method, I believe was extremely unethical, it was unfair for Sony to make such high promises then make their product unavailable.

“Advertising is a massive, multi-million project that’s having an enormous impact on child development” Allen D. Kanner American Psychologist, “The sheer volume of advertising is growing rapidly and invading new areas of childhood, like our schools”

Another example of this type of advertising would be an advert for a new computer, with the best applications, accessories and software available at a low introductory price. When the consumer goes to purchase one of these bargain computers, they are sold out, but the sales assistant shows you in the direction of another computer with only half the accessories and software for a little lower in price. And seeing as you have been made to think you need a new computer, you buy it thinking that it is still a bargain when it is actually a complete rip off!

This technique is wrong and in just but is still used tremendously in today’s world.

Adverts for loan companies and credit cards use another way of persuading the public to purchase their products. They are misconceiving and do not clearly state all the facts about their products. Most of these adverts state that you can consolidate all your debts into one monthly repayment but only in the small print at the bottom of the screen does it state the interest rates and the early repayment clauses. These adverts all make the viewers think that it is a great idea and a way to get out of debt but they are actually encouraging you to get into even more debt. They are not untruthful adverts but they do not state the most important facts about their products, making them unscrupulous and unfair. However, if the voice over on the advert stated that there would be high monthly repayments and high interest rates then their products would never sell. It is a vicious circle that advertisers and the public are subjected to.

Catchy slogans and songs can also be seen as unethical in adverts. I have noticed one advert in particular where I think the background song, which is very beguiling, has inappropriate lyrics to it. The advert I am referring to is the Vaseline Intensive Care advert, the advert is in good health and I cannot complain about the ethics of the visual advert, however, the background song uses the Lyrics “Keep young and beautiful, it’s your duty to be beautiful. Keep young and beautiful, if you want to be loved”.

Many people would see nothing wrong with this song, as it is not noticeable and you cannot see it to complain about it. However, it is basically stating that if you are not young and are not beautiful then you will never be loved. I think this is an unfair statement as we should treat everyone the same and acknowledge that everyone has their own kind of beauty. If we all took this statement to heart I’m sure we could all find something wrong with us that we could change if we could, and this statement is saying to me, you better change that something wrong otherwise you’ll never be loved. Love is something that nearly all of us long for and many of us would see no point in life if we had no-one to love or be loved by. I do think this advert is unethical, the advert itself would be fine if it were broadcast with different background music.

The fast food giants such as MacDonald’s, Burger King and KFC advertise heavily through television, newspapers and billboards. The food, which they promote, is high in fat e.g. – a Big Mac Burger Meal contains the recommended daily intake of calories for a woman in one meal. Britain is said to be on the brink of an obesity epidemic and according to figures from the Department of Health, more than 8.5% of 6 year olds and 15% of 15 year olds in England are classified as obese, yet these adverts continue to be permitted. Although full fat products are still the core business for the fast food industry, we are starting to see some retailers introducing salads and pasta onto their menus. This is a positive step forward and it is good to see that the industry is taking the problem seriously. However, I feel that we should be asking to fast food companies to look at their advertising campaigns for the future and bear in mind the state of health of the British population, to which they are contributing in a negative way.

Some adverts can be deemed “Ethical” whilst others are clearly not. Advertising is purely a means for a company to increase sales and by doing so, increasing their profit. The type and placing of the companies adverts relates directly to the moral responsibility within that particular business.

Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) is an issue, which is being discussed by the government on a regular basis and companies will soon find that CSR and Fair Trading will become compulsory. CSR relates to every department of a business, including the advertising department and with the introduction of the CSR Bill, companies will be required by law to consider their advertising campaigns to ensure they are ethically and socially responsible.

I think that a lot of the advertising we are subjected to in today’s world is very unethical. Companies are basically brainwashing people to think that they want products that they really don’t need. Children are subjected to adverts whilst watching children’s television and made to think that their childhood will not be happy if they don’t have a certain toy or piece of clothing. Advertises make false promises to viewers, trying to sell a lifestyle with a product rather than just the product itself. Also, as obesity is increasing, adverts targeted at children are increasing too. Companies are making more ‘fun’ foods like cheese strings and mini pizzas, which are extremely high in fat but which attract youngsters. Statistics show that children influence nearly 80% of a family’s food budget, and with adverts like these out there, persuading children to eat the fast type of food, marketers are basically increasing the level of obesity in children themselves.

However, there are some forms of advertising that I think are ethical, the messages on the cigarette packets for example are a great way to put people off and I think this sort of shock advertising should be used in other forms as well.

In conclusion, there are many forms of advertising, many ethical and many unethical. It is solely up to individual to decide whether they will be affected by these adverts or not! Although I think there are many unethical adverts out there, we should use our own minds and opinions and not always think that what someone else tells us is right!