ETHICS IN ADVERTISING

BY - NEERAJ ATTRI &

SANDEEP
OF
BBA 5th SEM
 ETHICS IN ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION

Ethics:
Ethics: Moral
Moral principles
principles and
and values
values that
that govern
govern the
the actions
actions and
and
decisions
decisions of
of an
an individual
individual or group..
or group

A
Amarketing
marketing or or Marketers
Marketers must
must
Not
Not all
all issues
issues can
can be
be promotion
promotion action
action decide
decide the
the
regulated
regulated may
may bebe legal
legal but
but not
not appropriateness
appropriateness of
of
ethical
ethical their
their actions
actions
 WHAT IS ETHICAL ?

• The Golden Rule

– Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

• Professional Ethics
– Would this be viewed as proper by a panel of ad professionals?

• Personal Ethics
– Would I be comfortable explaining this to my mother?
 ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION VIEWPOINTS

Provides
Providesinformation
information

Encourages
Encourageshigher
higher standard
standardof
of living
living
(for)
(for)
Proponent
Proponent Promotes
Promotescompetition
competition
arguments
arguments
Helps
Helpsnew
newfirms
firmsenter
enter aa market
market

Creates
Createsjobs
jobs

More
More propaganda
propaganda (lies)
(lies)than
than information
information

(against)
(against) Creates
Critic Createsunnecessary
unnecessary consumer
consumerneeds
needsand
andwants
wants
Critic arguments
arguments
Promotes
Promotesmaterialism,
materialism, insecurity,
insecurity,
and
and greed
greed

What is materialism?
 ADVERTISING AND CHILDREN

Children's
Children's TV
TV
Watching
Watching Behavior
Behavior

Children
Children ages
ages 2-11
2-11 80%
80% of of all
all advertising
advertising
watch
watch an
an average
average ofof targeted
targeted to to children
children
22
22 hours
hours of
of TV
TV per
per falls
falls in
in four
four
week
week and
and see
see 30,000
30,000 product
commercials product categories:
categories:
commercials per
per year
year Toys,
Toys, cereal,
cereal, candy
candy &&
fast
fast food
food restaurants
restaurants
 PERSPECTIVES ON ADS FOR CHILDREN

Advocates
AdvocatesArgue
ArgueThat
That Children:
Children:

Cannot
Cannot differentiate
differentiate
Lack
Lack the
the knowledge
knowledge andandskills
skills to
to between
between programs
programsandand
evaluate
evaluate advertising
advertising claims
claims commercials
commercials

Marketers
MarketersArgue
Argue Children:
Children:

Must
Must learn
learn Must
Must acquire
acquire skills
skillsneeded
needed to
to
through
through socialization
socialization function
function in
inthe
the marketplace
marketplace
 Critiques of Advertising
CRITIQUES OF ADVERTISING

• Promotes consumerism

• Creates unrealistic expectations / Encourages dissatisfaction

• Manipulates people (applies knowledge of psychology)

• Propagates stereotypes (gender, ethnic)

• Includes offensive messages (sex, controversy, profanity)

• Glamorizes unhealthy products (tobacco, alcohol, fatty food)

• Targets vulnerable groups (children, uneducated)

• Makes misleading claims (implies falsehoods without stating)

• Presents meaningless product differences as meaningful

 FALSE ADVERTISING

• Advertising that is simply untrue…

• Illegal and completely unethical

– Sony Pictures made up David Manning. Newsweek investigated

and Sony’s marketing department admitted they made him up

– Weight loss ads make “grossly exaggerated claims” – 40% made

at least one claim that was almost certainly false, while 55%
made a claim that was very likely false or lacked adequate
substantiation
 PUFFERY

• Positive, general claims that cannot be proved or

disproved because they are a matter of opinion

• Legal in most countries

• “Advertising or other sales representations, which

praise the item to be sold with subjective opinions,
superlatives, or exaggerations, vaguely and generally,
and stating no specific facts.”

– Campbell’s Soup: America’s Favourite Food

– Nothing outlasts the Energizer battery
– Gillette: The best a man can get
 MISLEADING ADVERTISING

• Advertising that does not literally contain falsehoods,

but which causes consumers to make false inferences

• Illegal if they are deemed/shown to produce inaccurate

beliefs among a significant percentage of consumers
(“reasonable consumer” standard)

• Strong risk of prosecution, penalties, remedial action

• Examples
– Strongly implied falsehoods
– Critical missing information
– Claim × knowledge interaction
 THE RISE OF STEALTH MARKETING

Presenting a new product or service by cleverly creating and

spreading “buzz” in an obtuse or surreptitious manner.
Some examples…

• Product placements: products placed within other conventional media

forms, such as movies and music videos

• Celebrity Marketing: Paying celebrity endorsements posing as unpaid

testimonials

• Viral Marketing: spreading the message via the Internet

• Brand Pushing: hiring actors to approach unsuspecting people in real life

situations and slipping commercial messages
 ADVERTISING ETHICS :SOME QUESTIONS

Is it ethical to…

• Conceal the fact that something is a paid commercial message

(e.g. product placement)?

• Conceal the fact that an individual has been paid to use or promote
a product? (e.g. Seattle cell phone promo, chat room seeding)

• Is offensive?

• Fails to disclose that a product could be harmful?

• Use an ad that portrays stereotypes?

• Criticize a competitor’s product in your ad, even though you know

it is basically the same as your own?
 QUESTIONS TO ASK

Does the ad...

• Make unsubstantiated claims?
• Make false or misleading claims?
• Make unfair comparisons?

• Reinforce negative stereotypes?

• Damage people’s self-image / create insecurities?
• Target vulnerable groups?

• Create false wants and false hope?

• Manipulate people’s emotions?
• Drive demand for unnecessary purchases?

• Violate public standards of good taste?

 SOME WEBSITES

• www.commercialexploitation.org

• Media Awareness Network

www.media-awareness.ca

• Advertising Standards Canada

www.adstandards.com

• Canadian Advertising Research

Foundation http://www.carf.ca/
 GUIDELINES FOR COMPARATIVE ADVERTISING

1. The intent should be to inform, not to discredit or attack competitors.

Ads should emphasize the relative benefits of the featured product
rather than the defects of rivals.

2. When a competitive product is named, it should be a significant

competitor. For example, it would be unfair to state “costs 40% less
than Brand X” when Brand X has an insignificant share, while other
leading brands are comparably priced.

3. The competition should be fairly and properly identified, but never in

a manner or tone of voice that degrades the competitive product or
service. Products should also be shown in comparable background
colour, setting, light.

4. Ads should compare similar properties of the product, feature to

feature. Comparative advertising should not highlight only the
superior attributes of the product to imply overall superiority
 GUIDELINES FOR COMPARATIVE ADVERTISING

5. If a competitive test is conducted, it should be done by an objective

testing source, preferably an independent one.

6. The property being compared should be significant in terms of its

value of the product to the consumer. For example, comparison of
trivial ingredients, such as the salt used in the pickles served on a
hamburger, should not be the subject of comparative comment.

7. Comparatives delivered through the use of personal testimonials

should not imply that the testimonial is more than the experience of
one individual unless that individual represents a sample of the
majority viewpoint.

8. An advertiser cannot say through a third party testimonial what it

knows to be untrue. (e.g., "I think this product is so much more
effective than the leading brand".)
ECONOMIC IMPACT OF ADVERTISING

Effects
Effectson
on Consumer
Consumer Choice
Choice
••Differentiation
Differentiation
••Brand
Brand Loyalty
Loyalty

Effects
Effectson
on Competition
Competition
••Barriers
Barriersto
toentry
entry
••Economies
Economiesof of scale
scale

Effects
Effectson
on Product
Product Costs
Costs and
and Prices
Prices
•• Advertising
Advertising as
asan
anexpense
expense that
that increases
increases the
the
cost
costof
ofproducts
products
•• Increased
Increaseddifferentiation
differentiation
 ADVERTISING REGULATION VARY

It is important to know the legal situation in each country:

• Advertising of jeans is prohibited in Malaysia

(they are considered Western and decadent)

• Direct marketing is banned in some European countries

(it is considered an invasion of privacy)

• A contest promotion might be legal in one country,

but not in another
 ADVERTISING AS OFFENSIVE OR IN BAD TASTE

Objectionable
Objectionable Sexual
Sexual Shock
Shock ads
ads
products
products appeals
appeals
BANNED DOLCE & GABBANA
 It is basically a Italian brand of cloths.

 There is no fun of assaulting woman in

this advertisement.

 It has a negative impact on small

children's.
BANNED DOLCE & GABBANA
BANNED DOLCE & GABBANA

Is there any need of showing

violence ?

Why the female used in the

advertisement is without cloths ?
OBJECTIONABLE ADS
False claims to rebuild giant buildings.

Suffering of people are used to make

advertisement of own services and products.
OBJECTIONABLE ADS

In this advertisement a terrorist attack on

world trade centre are used to highlight the
problem of poverty.

 such kind of advertisements made by

Mtv are objectioned as it affects the
sentiments of people throughout world.
OBJECTIONABLE ADS

Although it is a advertisements to
highlight the problem of hunger but
as it affects the sentiments , it is
banned.
OBJECTIONABLE ADS
OBJECTIONABLE ADS

In this advertisement man die

because of high current of battery.

This is horror for children’s &

have bad effect on the psycology.
OBJECTIONABLE ADS

There is need of being nude in this

advertisement.

Its has bad effect on the brain of

children’s.
OBJECTIONABLE ADS

It is against law because hurting animals

is against law of India.
OBJECTIONABLE ADS

This is a advertisement of footwear .

Killing a man is not required .

This advertisement have a double meaning.

OBJECTIONABLE ADS

This is a advertisement of TIGER bear .

OBJECTIONABLE ADS

This is a advertisement of cigarette.

It promotes bad habit of smoking.

What do mean by “spread a little

happiness”?

 It create an illusion in the mind of

people that cigarette smoking gives
happiness.
SEX SELLS… SHOULD IT?

Why advertisers use sex as a medium to

increase sales of there products?

 females should not be used as dummies.

SEX SELLS… SHOULD IT?
This is a advertisement of COFFEE.

 what is the fun of being nude in this

advertisement.

People cannot see such kind of

advertisements in front of family.

These kind of advertisements make a

family difficult to watch t.v together.
SEX SELLS… SHOULD IT?

Why to be nude?

This is an ad for toilet paper

OBJECTIONABLE ADS

These kind of advertisements spoil mind

of children’s.

 why to make use of it to increase the sale

of products.

Does nudity in this ad help make a point?

 TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

Advertisers are using shock advertising to:

A) Test their First Amendment rights
B) Get ads noticed in the midst of clutter
C) Make a statement against self-regulation
D) Test the ethics of the advertising industry
E) Act as advocacy ads for company management
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CONSEQUENCES

Does
Does advertising
advertising
encourage
encourage materialism?
materialism?

Does
Does advertising
advertising make
make people
people
buy
buy things
things
they
they don’t
don’t need?
need?

Is
Is advertising
advertising just
just
aa reflection
reflection of
of society?
society?
 ADVERTISING AND STEREOTYPING

Portrayal
Portrayal of
of women
women toto reflect
reflecttheir
their
changing role in society
changing role in society

Portrayal
Portrayalof
of
Gender
Gender Criticisms
Criticismsof
ofAdvertising
Advertising women
women asas
stereotyping
stereotyping
With
With Regard
Regardtoto sex objects
sex objects
Stereotyping
Stereotyping

Ethnic
Ethnic stereotyping/
stereotyping/
Sexual
Sexual orientation
orientation representation
representation
WHAT IS YOUR OPINION OF THIS AD?

Is
Is this
this woman
woman portrayed
portrayed as
as aa sex
sex
object?
object?

Does
Does this
this ad
ad contain
contain
cues
cues that
that are
are sexually
sexually suggestive?
suggestive?

Does
Does this
this ad
ad present
present an
an image
image of
of
sexual
sexual submissiveness?
submissiveness?
DO TV NETWORKS HAVE A DOUBLE STANDARD?
DO TV NETWORKS HAVE DOUBLE STANDARDS ?
HOW WOMEN ARE PORTRAYED IN ADVERTISING
DOVE CHALLENGES THE NORMS OF BEAUTY
 TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

Groups such as the National Organization for Women (NOW) are critical of
advertising that:
A) Portrays women in traditional sexist roles
B) Contributes to violence against women
C) Is insulting to women
D) Stereotypes women
E) Does any of the above
SUBLIMINAL ADVERTISING

 Subliminal- To reveal a message

without a person knowing or
being aware
SUBLIMINAL ADVERTISING
SUBLIMINAL ADVERTISING
SUBLIMINAL ADVERTISING

We’re just as excited as you are

SUBLIMINAL ADVERTISING
DO ADVERTISERS CONTROL THE MEDIA?

Advertising
Advertisingisisthe
theprimary
primarysource
source ofof revenue
revenue
for
for newspapers,
newspapers, magazines,
magazines, television
television and
and
radio
radio

Media’s
Media’sdependence
dependence on
on advertising
advertising for
for
revenue
revenue makes
makesthem
them vulnerable
vulnerable to
to control
control by
by
advertisers
advertisers

Advertisers
Advertisersmay mayexert
exert control
control over
over the
the media
media
by
by biasing
biasing editorial
editorial content,
content, limiting
limiting coverage
coverage
of
of certain
certain issues,
issues, or
or influencing
influencing program
program
content
content
ADVERTISING CAN ADRESS SOCIAL PROBLEMS
U.S. GOVERNMENT DISCOURAGES DRUG USE
ADVERTISING CAN ADDRESS SOCIAL PROBLEMS
PROMOTING RESPONSIBLE DRINKING
ROLE OF ADVERTISING IN THE ECONOMY

Makes
Makes consumers
consumers aware
aware of
of
products
products and
and services
services

Provides
Provides consumers
consumers withwith
information
information to
to use
use to
to make
make
purchase
purchase decisions
decisions

Encourages
Encourages consumption,
consumption, fosters
fosters
economic
economic growth
growth
 ADVERTISING SELF-REGULATION

Self-discipline

• In-house review procedures within agencies

• Includes vetting by legal team to ensure claims are

verifiable and unlikely to mislead

Industry self-regulation

• In the U.S., the National Advertising Review Council

(a joint venture of the BBB and local advertiser
associations) negotiates voluntary withdrawal of ads
deemed to be deceptive
 CONCLUSION

Advertisers should make advertisements keeping in mind the ethics of advertisements

.They must keep in mind that society is influenced by there advertisements ,so it is there
responsibility to make responsible ads which a family can watch by sitting together.
Advertisements has great impact on the mind of children's so, its should me made in such
a way that it should increase there innovativeness & not to spoil there life by diverting
there attention.