The world of advertising is so broad, there are so many different adverts for different products, services and people that it would be impossible to talk about even a quarter of them. Statistics show that we are subjected to approximately 2000 brand names every day. These are everywhere we look, when we pick up a pen, when we walk to college and especially when we watch television. These adverts are impossible to ignore even if we wanted to.
Advertising is a businesses tool to convince the public that what they are producing is a necessity. Each advert is specifically targeted at an audience and is placed in different locations to attract this audience’s attention. Adverts can attack at any of the five senses of the human body, sight, hearing, tough and even smell or taste. The advertising industry is continuously attacked with criticism and disapproval from the general public. Many people think that advertising is encouraging materialism, obesity, taking advantage of children, using sex to sell products and manipulating our buyer behaviour. It is a person’s own opinion on advertising that is important, in this essay I am going to look at the two sides of the story and writing in my own opinion whether or not I think advertising is ethical. ETHICS – A system of moral standards or principles To start with I am going to mention the tobacco and alcohol industry.
Up until very recently, tobacco producers were allowed to advertise their products. One tobacco advert that my parents remember is the Consulate advert with the slogan “as cool as the mountain stream”. This advert was obviously stating that smoking was the cool and hip thing to do and that if you didn’t smoke then you wouldn’t be part of the in crowd! Many critics argued that adverts like these caused and increased consumption of cigarettes and tobacco and as these products can have a harmful effect on a person’s body and can even cause death, it was thought that it was wrong to advertise these products and that this type of advertising was unethical.
Nowadays, these type of adverts are banned, and instead of sending out promotional messages about smoking, on the back of every packet of cigarettes and every pouch of tobacco in Britain, there is a bold message stating how bad smoking is for you. There are now disturbing adverts on television showing people who are close to death as a result of smoking and although these adverts are very alarming, I think the shock tactic is extremely effective and has really opened up a lot of people’s eyes.
The alcohol industry on the other hand is permitted to advertise their products, however similar the effects of drinking alcohol and smoking are. They can both cause death if consumed in excess and alcoholism is actually looked down on in society today., more than smoking is. However the adverts are still permitted which I think is very unethical. Even though the adverts are not broadcasted until after the watershed, they are still sending out the message that it is a carefree by time and they are not stating the long term affects of excessive alcohol binging. I think this type of advertising is very unethical and untruthful and even though I am a student and do enjoy a drink on the weekend, I think there should at least be other adverts out in conjunction with the alcohol ones, giving the facts about alcoholics and the long term effects of drinking.
Advertising can involve unethical tactics from a business. For example, when the Playstaion2 was introduced to the public about two years ago, it was seen as the one and only games console to have at Christmas. The adverts were very tactful, making children think that If they didn’t have a Playstation2 for Christmas then they were not going to be part of the “in” or “normal” crowd. Parents were nagged by their children and made to think that if their children didn’t get the new Playstation2 then they would be seen as bad parents and their children may be bullied for not conforming to society.
When it came to purchasing this console at Christmas, the producers not making enough to satisfy the demand for the product made matters worse. This was done on purpose so that the product looked more desirable now that they weren’t available, allowing Sony to increase the price when the product became available again. Children would be unhappy on Christmas day, but Sony weren’t bothered about this, they were making sure that their product would sell more and have a longer lifespan.
This method, I believe was extremely unethical, it was unfair for Sony to make such high promises then make their product unavailable. “Advertising is a massive, multi-million project that’s having an enormous impact on child development” Allen D. Kanner American Psychologist, “The sheer volume of advertising is growing rapidly and invading new areas of childhood, like our schools” Another example of this type of advertising would be an advert for a new computer, with the best applications, accessories and software available at a low introductory price. When the consumer goes to purchase one of these bargain computers, they are sold out, but the sales assistant shows you in the direction of another computer with only half the accessories and software for a little lower in price. And seeing as you have been made to think you need a new computer, you buy it thinking that it is still a bargain when it is actually a complete rip off!
