ADVERTISING

Business Ethics
THE MORALITY OF ADVERTISING

• The primary purpose of advertising is to inform potential buyers of

the availability of a certain product by providing relevant
information on its uses, benefits, and how it might serve the needs
and wants of individuals.

• However, the use of advertising today has not served its intended
purpose since very little information is conveyed to the customers
and more often the information is not even useful.
• From the point of morality, advertising in itself is not bad or
immoral since it helps achieve the goals of both the seller and the
buyer. It only becomes immoral when, in the attempt to persuade
consumers, the advertisements become deceptive, misleading,
and manipulative.

• There is only one criterion in evaluating the morality of

advertising, and that is, “To Tell the Truth”.
SOME ISSUES IN
ADVERTISING
Business Ethics
MISLEADING ADVERTISEMENT

• Ads that do not misrepresent, do not make false

claims but it makes claims in such a way that a
normal person looking at it comes up with a
wrong conclusion.
Deceptive Advertisements

• An advertisement that makes a false statement

or misrepresents the product or service
Use of Weasel Words

• When ads are ambiguous, they are considered deceptive.

• Weasel words are used to avoid or recoil from a direct or

straightforward statement.

• “Helps fight…”
• “Helps prevent…”
• “Kills 99.9% of…”
Exaggeration

• “50 percent stronger”

• “Superior to any other”
• “Whitens teeth in just 3 brushes”
• “Lose weight in 2 weeks”
• “One shade lighter in 2 weeks”
• “No need to comb”
• “Amoy na tumatagal hanggang isang lingo”
• Ang 500 mo gawin nating 6000 in one week!
Psychological Appeals

• Some ads are directed at arousing human emotional needs rather

than reason.

• Richard F. Taflinger defines psychological appeal as a visual or

aural influence on the subconscious mind or emotions.
 Some of the psychological appeals that advertisers
use to motivate people to buy their products are:

• 1. Power
• 2. Prestige
• 3. Personal enjoyment
• 4. Masculinity
• 5. Femininity
• 6. Curiosity
• 7. Imitation
• 8. Acceptance
• 9. Approval
• 10. Self esteem
• 11. Sexual pitches
Ads Directed to Children

• Children are a different group of consumers that disregard reason.

• They have been a very recognized audience for advertising.

• The aim of advertisers is for their children to pester their parents

to buy things for them.

• Kids tend to interpret ads literally.

PHILIPPINE LAWS ON ADVERTISING
• Consumer Act of the Philippines R.A. 7394
• Article 108 “The state shall protect the consumer from misleading advertisements
and fraudulent sales promotion practices.”

The Department of Trade and Industry is responsible for enforcing the provisions of
the act.
• Some Special Requirement for Food, Cosmetic, Drug, Device, or Hazardous
Substances
• a. No advertisements for any food, drug, cosmetic. Device, or hazardous substance
may be allowed unless such product is duly registered and approved by DOH
• b. Advertisements of any food, drug, cosmetic, device or hazardous substance may
not make use of any reference to any laboratory report of analysis required to be
submitted to the DOH, unless such laboratory is approved by the DOH
Philippine Association of National
Advertisers
The PANA issued a code of ethics which includes the following statements:
1. Good advertising recognizes both its economic and social responsibility
to help reduce distribution costs and to serve the public interest.
2. Good advertising depends for its success on its public confidence.
3. Good advertising aims to inform consumer and help him buy
intelligently.
4. Good advertising tells the truth. It is accurate, honest, and trustworthy.
5. Good advertising conforms not only to the laws but also to the generally
accepted standards of good taste and decency.
6. Good advertising helps to dignify the individual and contribute to the
building of a civilized society.
IN CONCLUSION:

Advertising is important. No one lives out the competition without

advertising. But we need to remember that we have far greater
responsibility than make people say “yes”. Since we are given the
platform, let us use it to educate, inform, and inspire. We ought to
tell them the truth not just about what we sell, but the truth about
our cause, our responsibility, our reason for existence.

We need to draw the line between right advertising, and deceiving

our customers.