Advertising and Society

Mission Vision Core Values

Christ University is a nurturing ground for an Excellence and Service Faith in God | Moral Uprightness
individual’s holistic development to make effective Love of Fellow Beings | Social
contribution to the society in a dynamic environment Responsibility | Pursuit of Excellence
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Advertising’s Social Role

• Does advertising create a materialistic culture or does it

simply reflect it?
• Critics believe that advertising has the power to shape social trends
and the way people think and act
• Advertising professionals believe advertising mirrors values rather
than sets them
• Advertising can potentially shape and mirror values

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Review and Regulation of Advertising

Advertising’s legal environment:

• Trademark
• Copyright

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Why Regulate Advertising

• Morality and tastes

• Untruthful advertising
• Advertisement as Environment pollutant

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Self-Regulation

Most advertisers and

Self-discipline agencies have in-house
Industry self- review procedures
Every element of a
regulation proposed ad should be
Self-regulation with evaluated by an in-house
committee or lawyers
outside help

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Self Regulation

Self-discipline
Industry self-
regulation
Self-regulation with
outside help

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Self Regulation

Self-discipline
Industry self-
regulation
Self-regulation with Local Groups
Consumer Groups
outside help

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Advertising Standards Council of India

ASCI seeks to ensure that advertisements confirm to its

Code for Self-regulation. Advertisements need to be:
1. Truthful & honest
2. Non-offensive to public
3. Against harmful products/unsafe situations
4. Fair in competition

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Advertising Ethics

Six key issues

A set of moral 1. Poor taste and offensive
advertising
principles that guide 2. Stereotyping
3. Body and self image
actions and create a 4. Targeting children
5. Misleading claims and
sense of responsible other message
strategies
behavior 6. Controversial products

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Advertising Ethics

Children
• One of the most controversial topics in the industry
• Children are unable to evaluate advertising messages
and make purchasing decisions

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Advertising Ethics

Misleading Claims
Advertising claims are unethical if they are false,
misleading, or deceptive

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Advertising Ethics

Controversial Products
Some products are not allowed to be advertised in India.
Eg. Unhealthy or dangerous products, tobacco, alcohol,
prescription drugs, baby formula milk etc.

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Advertising ethics

• Poor taste and offensive advertising

• Advertising that portrays women (or men) as sex objects
is considered demeaning and sexist, particularly if it is
not relevant to the product.
• Reinforcing stereotypes
• Diversity issues
• Gender roles
• Body image and self image: advertising has been
criticized for glorifying glamorous looks in both men
and women
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Misleading claims and other message strategies

Manipulative advertising: ads that play on emotions in order to create
inappropriate or overly intense feelings.
Subliminal message: transmitted in such a way that the receiver is not
consciously aware of receiving it. Symbols are too faint or too brief for
the consumer to clearly recognize them.
Puffery: advertising or other sales representations, which praise the item to be
sold with subjective opinions, superlatives or exaggerations, vaguely and
generally, stating no specific facts.
Comparative advertising: compares the advertiser’s product favourably against
a competitor.
Endorsements: or testimonial is any advertising message that consumers
believe reflects the opinions, beliefs or experiences of an individual,
group, or institution. But if customers can ascertain that it doesn’t reflect
the announcers opinion then it isn't endorsement but misleading
Demonstrations: product demonstrations in television advertising must not
mislead consumers. Excellence and Service
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Determining What is Ethical

The “Golden Rule”

The social ethic
The professional
ethic
The personal ethic
Social responsibility
motivates a business to
make a positive impact
on society

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Determining What is Ethical
The social ethic
The professional
ethic
The personal ethic
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Industry standards help
with a decision about
what is ethically correct
A code of standards
identifies how
professionals should
respond when facing an
ethical dilemma

Determining What is Ethical
The social ethic
The professional
ethic
The personal ethic
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Personal judgment and
moral reasoning rests on
an intuitive sense of right
and wrong
Advertising professionals
must be aware of
industry standards as
well as ethical questions