Advertising Is Not Ethical?

Advertising is not only used to sell products, it also affects the ideas of who we are. Each and every day we are induced to believe that we must spend money to attain an ideal

Advertisements are everywhere; no matter where you are there will be many different advertisements surrounding you. You see them on billboards, you hear them on the radio and Pandora, you are surrounded by them in shopping malls, etc. Have you ever wondered who created advertisements? I always asked myself that question because I was surprised by how many different advertisements there are. It was until I read “The Language of Advertising” by Charles A. O’Neill that I found the answer to my question. O’Neill believes that advertising language mirrors the fears, quirks, and aspiration of the society that creates it. I agree with O’Neill because advertisements are affected by society; if advertisements had nothing to do with society there would be no point in advertising objects.

(Twitchell, p. 178) As if this tidbit of information was not enough to raise awareness of the bad side effects that come along with social media and advertising, a study was conducted recently to determine just how important advertisers found ethics to be; the results were shocking. It turns out that among twenty-nine different advertising agencies, two general groups were able to be formed: “those who feel ethics is largely irrelevant to advertising, and those who ‘typically recognized moral issues and talked about them inside the agency with their coworkers and outside the agency with their clients and potential clients.’” (Drumright and Murphy, 2009) Unfortunately, the majority of the agencies who were interviewed fell into the category of believing that ethics is largely irrelevant to advertising. Since ethics turn out to be of so little concern in the advertising industry, and since advertisements clutter social media, it is fair to conclude that said industries are not in existence to look out for consumers, but rather to provide a platform for sales and increased revenue.

For the longest time now, advertising has played a huge role in how we identify ourselves in the United States with the American culture, and how others identify themselves with all the cultures of the rest of the world as well. It guides us in making everyday decisions, such as what items we definitely need to invest our money on, how to dress in-vogue, and what mindset we should have to prosper the most. Although advertising does help make life easier for most, at the same time it has negative affects on the people of society as well. Advertisement discreetly manipulates the beliefs, morals, and values of our culture, and it does so in a way that most of the time we don’t even realize it’s happened. In order to reach our main goal of

Advertisements are an important vehicle designed to promote or help sell a product, service or idea (Young, 2014, p.35). As a dimension of IMC, advertising is “…most often associated with offenses that attract attention from critics and regulators alike” (Young, 2014, p.34). This can be

According to “Cigarettes by Eric H. Shaw and Stewart Alan, “advertising continued to increase the size of the market, despite an expanding awareness of health risks and increasing advertising restrictions,” (Source B). An ad isn’t looking to solve another person’s problems with something that will definitely benefit their wellbeing. An ad is made to make a person believe he needs the product they are selling so that the business can continue to profit off of someone’s vulnerability and grow off the people to naïve to even realize they are being played. According to “Exercise Your Moral Judgement Through the Way You Buy” by Renato K. Sesana, “they create unfulfilled desires and then they push us to buy the products that we do not need,” (Source F). As a popular catch phrase goes it’s “like taking candy from a baby.” According to Advertising Information or Manipulation? By Nancy Day,” Advertising tells you what you need. Before advertising told us to, who worried about dandruff...It can make us unsatisfied with who we are, greedy for what we don’t have, and oblivious to the miseries of millions who haven’t a fraction the comforts we take for granted,” (Source D). Before ads, there weren’t as many stereotypes or as many dissatisfactions that people have. On the other hand, an ad can inform someone of

Each day we are bombarded with advertisements from a plethora of corporations in every waking moment of our lives. Advertising agencies have become so advanced at what they do, that often times we may not even realize we are being advertised a product. This raises an interesting ethical dilemma over a certain type of advertising: persuasive advertising. Philosophers, economists, and business professionals have debated over whether or not persuasive advertising is an immoral violation of the autonomy of consumers. While not all forms of advertising are in and of themselves certainly immoral, persuasive advertising is particularly reprehensible due to the fact that not only does it manipulate our unconscious desires of which we are completely unaware in order to sell a product, but it also routinely leads us to act against our own best interest, thus overriding our autonomy.

Advertisements can be defined as published papers or videos used to promote a product and to persuade customers to buy a certain product from a certain company. Whether people buy a product because of an advertisement or simply because of the brand, product sales have gone up ever since the firsts ads were seen around the 1920’s. While ads constantly use the same tactics to influence people, the tactics change based on the evolving society. For example, the 7 Up company have advertised their drinks since the 1930’s, but over time they have developed and adapted to the changing society.

The definition of advertising is outdated. It was previously, to endorse a product and praise goodness to induce the public to buy. They are now brainwashing consumers to buy their products using images to sell the product. The advertiser’s aim is to make the product look as good as it can through an attractive image. There are statistics, which I obtained from a Dolly Magazine, 16th May 2000, which proves that one out of four people in Australia buy a product because of the image shown in the advertisment. The images are eye catching and mention something important about the product. Ultimately it is true that, “Advertisers sell images, not products.”

Advertising is a tactic used to grasp the attention of the public and inform them about a product service or business. There are multiple advertising strategies that a business or person can use to fulfill a purpose, but not all of them are ethical. All advertisements should be legal, decent, honest, and truthful. Advertisements should not contain statements or visual aspects that offend any standard of decency. Advertisements should not abuse the trust of consumers or exploit their lack of knowledge. Advertisements should not play on fear, undermine human dignity, incite violence, or any unlawful behavior.

Advertising has been defined as the most powerful, persuasive, and manipulative tool that firms have to control consumers all over the world. It is a form of communication that typically attempts to persuade potential customers to purchase or to consume more of a particular brand of product or service. Its impacts created on the society throughout the years has been amazing, especially in this technology age. Influencing people’s habits, creating false needs, distorting the values and priorities of our society with sexism and feminism, advertising has become a poison snake ready to hunt his prey. However, on the other hand, advertising has had a positive effect as a help of the economy and society.

Nancy Day writes, “Advertising tells you what you need. Before advertisers told us to, who worried about dandruff?” (Source D). Though it may seem like a form of brainwash, the competition for making the best advertisement is what keeps the cycle of innovation going. Companies want to have the best products and the best advertising to convince the consumer that their product is a necessity. In return there is competition, which leads to innovation, which then leads to a more advanced society. Jeffrey Schrank further explains in his book, Deception Detection, “Ads are designed to have an effect while being laughed at, belittled, and all but ignored” (Source E). What he is saying is at the root of capitalism. No matter what, companies want to be on top, and it is up to the consumer to decide whether or not that company is going to shift their moral compass. Though there are places where one would draw the line in advertising, it is important for people to advance alongside technology and advertising so that they can make their own informed

Advertising has had a major impact on society. Some may be considered positive and some negative. Take a look around, advertisements are placed everywhere, television commercials, billboards, newspapers, and even on the sides of buses. Advertising is the basic form of marketing and trading throughout the world. Today’s society knows it as marketers trying to influence or persuade consumers into buying something. It also serves as a medium for services and businesses. There are many advertising strategies, but television commercials will always remain the number one strategy. Think about it, how much television is watched a day, probably a lot. What better way to advertise a product or service? Advertising has a positive effect on our economy. It does not only influence and persuade consumers, but it also benefits them in many ways. It also benefits manufacturers and their company, and the world as a whole.

Now the wind of technological advancement is blowing all around the glob. Our life become so much easy and comfortable. For the sake of explosion of new technology, media, and new opportunities is transforming the marketing and advertising landscape and revolutionizing the way the industry conducts business. The only fact is the transparency that is needed. For the sake of motivating advertising, public relations, and marketing communications professionals to practice the highest personal ethics in the creation and distribution of commercial information to consumers the institute for advertising (IAE) was created.

It is often debated whether the advertising industry has a beneficial effect on society or not. A common argument is that the industry supports the national and global economy, by increasing product consumption. Additionally, advertisements show consumers their choices. However, on the other hand, advertising and its pervasiveness have created a consumer society and spread false needs. Historically, an increase in advertising and an increase in consumerism occurred at the same time. Although advertising in some form has existed for many centuries, the earliest advertising specialists and agencies, appeared around the time of the Industrial Revolution. This is when consumer society first began to form (A brief history of advertising, 2007). For decades, the dominant form of advertising was newspapers. With the rise of modern-day technologies, digital advertising became common on television and the internet. In this essay, I argue that advertising in media promotes consumerism, and is damaging to individuals, society, and the environment. I discuss the numerous methods used by advertising to indoctrinate society into consumer culture, as well as the resulting harm that false needs and consumerism cause to the world, as well the responsibility that the media has to society.