Ethical Issues in Advertising

• Advertising is a dynamic public forum in which business
interests, creativity, consumer needs and government

regulations meet. Advertising’s visible social role makes it a
target for criticism.
• As a result, today’s consumers believe that a great deal of

advertising is unethical because it adds to the price of
products, is untruthful, tricks people, or targets vulnerable
people.
• Although many laws govern advertisers, many situations are

not covered by written rules or regulations. Numerous
advertising-related issues are left to the discretion of the
advertisers and are based on ethical concerns.
3 Issues Central to an Ethical
Discussion of Advertising
• Advocacy
Advertising by its very nature, tries to persuade the audience to do
something. As a result, it is not objective or neutral, which disturbs critics
who think that advertising should be objective, informative and neutral.
• Accuracy
Beyond the easily ascertainable claims in an advertising message are matters
of perception. The subtle messages are more troubling when they are aimed
at particular groups with limited experiences, such as children and teenagers,
or limited resources, such as the elderly or disabled.
• Acquisitiveness
Some critics maintain that advertising is a symbol of our society’s
preoccupation with accumulating material objects. Because we are
continually exposed to an array of changing, newer and better products,
critics claim we become convinced that we must have these products.
Ethical Issues in Advertising
• Puffery
• Taste and Advertising
• Stereotyping in Advertising
• Advertising to Children
• Advertising Controversial Products
• Subliminal Advertising
Puffery
• Puffery is defined as advertising or other sales representations, which
praise the item to be sold with subjective opinions, superlatives or
exaggerations, vaguely and generally stating n specific facts.
• The empirical evidence on puffery is mixed. Some research suggests that

audience members might expect advertisers to be able to prove the truth
of superlative claims, and other research indicates that reasonable
people do not believe such claims.
Taste and Advertising
We all have our own ideas as to what constitutes good taste. Unfortunately, these
ideas vary so much that creating general guidelines for good taste in advertising is
difficult. Different things offend different people.
Product Categories and Taste

• One dimension of the taste issue concerns the product itself. Television has the
ability to bring a spokesperson into our living rooms to talk to us about topics
that embarrass many people, who then complain that the ads lack taste.
• Although certain ads might be in bad taste in any circumstance, viewer

reactions are affected by such factors as sensitivity to the product category, the
time the message is received and whether the person is alone or with others
when viewing the message.
• Questionable ads become offensive in the wrong media as well. In addition,

taste changes over time.
Taste and Advertising
Current Issues
• Today’s questions of taste center on the use of sexual innuendos,
nudity, vulgarity and violence. Although the use of sex in advertising
is not new, the blatancy of its use is.
Stereotyping in Advertising
• Critics claim that many advertisers stereotype large segments of
our population, particularly women, minorities and the elderly.
• In advertising, stereotyping involves presenting a group of people
in an unvarying pattern that lacks individuality.
• The issue of stereotyping is connected to the debate about
whether advertising shapes society’s values or simply mirrors them.
• If we believe that advertising has the ability to shape our values
and our view of the world, then it is essential that advertisers
become aware of how they portray different groups.
• Conversely, if we believe that advertising mirrors society,
advertisers have a responsibility to ensure that what is portrayed is
accurate and representative.
Women in Advertisement
• Critics complained that ads showed women as preoccupied with beauty,

household duties and motherhood.
• Portrayals of adult women in TV and print advertising have stressed passivity,

deference, lack of intelligence and credibility and punishment for exerting
significant effort. In contrast, men have been shown as constructive, powerful,
autonomous and achievement oriented.
• Subtle aspects of self-presentation – such as pose, body language and facial

expression also show gender stereotyping. Women are often depicted as shy,
dreamy, gentle, likely to be manipulated and helpless. Men’s body language
denoted power, control and dominance whereas women’s body language
indicated psychological withdrawal, submissiveness and supplication.
• The challenge acing advertisers today is to portray women realistically in

diverse roles, without alienating any segment of women.
Racial and Ethnic Stereotypes
• The root of most complaints is that certain groups are shown in subservient,
unflattering ways.
• Many times minorities are the basis of a joke or consigned to a spot in the
background.
• In 1998 the Hispanic population in the U.S was over 30 million. Still, there is a
misconception that all Hispanic consumers are alike.
Senior Citizens
• Another group that critics say is often subject to stereotyping is senior citizens,
a growing segment of the population with increasing disposable income.
• Critics often object to the use od older people in roles that portray them as
slow, senile and full of afflictions. Part of this misportrayal stems from an
assumption that the elderly are all the same.
Gay and Lesbian Consumers
• Gay-specific marketing is becoming part of an integrated marketing strategy for
major companies.
• Although gay-specific ads are proving more effective, these advertisers face a
double-edged sword.
• On one hand, they must portray gay men and lesbians in an accurate, non
offensive manner. On the other hand, heterosexual consumers will also be
reading these ads, and they must be in sync with their perceptions of this
community.
Advertising to Children
• After a 1988 study found that the average child saw over 20,000 TV
commercials per year, a heated debate ensued. One side favoured
regulation because of children’s inability to evaluating advertising
messages and make purchase decisions.
• The other side opposed regulation because members of that group
believed many self-regulatory mechanisms already existed and the
proper place for restricting advertising to children was in the home.
Advertising to Children
Here’s a list of common advertising strategies. You could make a game out
of spotting the strategies with your child.
• The bribe: you get a free toy when you buy a product and you’re
encouraged to collect them all – for example, toys packaged with
takeaway meals and small toys in cereal packets.
• The game: you can play a game and win a prize if you buy a product.
• The big claim or promise: a product tastes excellent, or it’s the best in
the world. Or a product will bring you fun and excitement and make
your life better – for example, you’ll have more friends or be able to
run faster.
• The super-person: popular or famous people promote a product to
make you think you can be just like them if you have the product too.
• The cartoon character: a cartoon character you know and like tells you
about a product to make it more attractive.
Advertising Controversial Products
• Over time, advertisers have had to deal with products that were once
considered unsuitable to advertise moving into the realm of
acceptability. However, there are still some products that have not
received acceptance by the majority of consumers.
• Tobacco, Alcohol and Gambling
Subliminal Advertising
• Generally, we assume that messages are seen and heard consciously. However, it
is possible to communicate symbols that convey meaning but are below the
threshold of normal perception. These kinds of messages are called subliminal.
• A subliminal message is transmitted in such a way that the receiver is not

consciously aware of receiving it. This usually means that the symbols are too
faint or too brief for the consumer to clearly recognize.
• Marketing with subliminal messages aims to encourage the purchase of the

product through subtle effects that are not normally visible to the naked eye. It’s
not only the images that are used to get into your head; sounds and other
techniques are also used to help the message sink into your subconscious.
• Many of the subliminal messages that have been found up to now are usually
related to sex or religion in some way, and although they are not easy to detect
when they are, they cause a lot of controversies.

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• Advertising is a dynamic public forum in which business

interests, creativity, consumer needs and government

• As a result, today’s consumers believe that a great deal of

• Although many laws govern advertisers, many situations are

• The empirical evidence on puffery is mixed. Some research suggests that

Product Categories and Taste

• Although certain ads might be in bad taste in any circumstance, viewer

• Questionable ads become offensive in the wrong media as well. In addition,

• Critics complained that ads showed women as preoccupied with beauty,

• Portrayals of adult women in TV and print advertising have stressed passivity,

• Subtle aspects of self-presentation – such as pose, body language and facial

• The challenge acing advertisers today is to portray women realistically in

• A subliminal message is transmitted in such a way that the receiver is not

• Marketing with subliminal messages aims to encourage the purchase of the

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