The Issues
The most important topics include; advertising to children, sex in advertising, advertising harmful substances, consumer privacy, adequate disclosure, honesty, and disguised advertising. These issues pertain to individual ads, but there are also issues concerning the body of advertising as a whole. The focus throughout is on the rhetorical techniques and message of ads. As such, consumer privacy will not be discussed given that the ethical concern is unrelated to the content of ads.
Everyone agrees that honesty is important, so is it really still an issue for ads? According to Pamela Divinsky, “today we know that it is truth that ‘sells,’” (Divinsky). My sources all agree that honesty is important and it is not a big issue in advertising. In “Ethics and Advertising,” by William O’Barr, there are numerous court cases cited, in which an advertisement was deemed unethical and pulled. So, honesty is under control. But, even when not lying, one may fail to tell the truth. Adequate disclosure is quite the grey area. In “Making the Case for Enhanced Ethics,” Wally Snyder tells us that, with regard to drug ads, the FDA determines and enforces adequate disclosure, which is actually quite extensive (see below). O’Barr asks, “does every ad need to give this much information about possible risks associated with the product, or do different kinds of products call for different standards about what needs to be disclosed in an advertisement?” (O’Barr). This leads to the question of what other aspects of ads deserve different treatment from each other.
Everyone agrees that honesty is important, so is it really still an issue for ads? According to Pamela Divinsky, “today we know that it is truth that ‘sells,’” (Divinsky). My sources all agree that honesty is important and it is not a big issue in advertising. In “Ethics and Advertising,” by William O’Barr, there are numerous court cases cited, in which an advertisement was deemed unethical and pulled. So, honesty is under control. But, even when not lying, one may fail to tell the truth. Adequate disclosure is quite the grey area. In “Making the Case for Enhanced Ethics,” Wally Snyder tells us that, with regard to drug ads, the FDA determines and enforces adequate disclosure, which is actually quite extensive (see below). O’Barr asks, “does every ad need to give this much information about possible risks associated with the product, or do different kinds of products call for different standards about what needs to be disclosed in an advertisement?” (O’Barr). This leads to the question of what other aspects of ads deserve different treatment from each other.
More contentious are the issues of advertising to children, sex in advertising, and disguised ads. Advertising to children is such a great concern because children’s emotions are so accessible. Children are likely to take ads too seriously and become convinced that they need something rather than just want it. Advertising using sex is powerful because it bypasses reason using a strong emotion. These kinds of ads can have subtle effects by taking advantage of our needs and desires related to the opposite sex. If ads can convince us that a product will help us have more luck with the opposite sex, then we are very likely to buy it on that assumption alone. Advertising disguised as entertainment is effective because it makes people happy. People derive pleasure from entertainment and that pleasure becomes associated with the product in the ad. The point of all of these techniquies is that that people are being tricked, they are being convinced of the value of a product not based on its merits but on a feeling created by a fiction that has nothing to do with the product.
In “Can Advertising Be Ethical?,” Martha Shaw points out that, “Ads can entertain us, upset us, embarrass us, or expose our children to things otherwise banned from daytime tv,” (Shaw). This is the level of freedom accorded to individuals, now in the hands of corporations. The unspoken idea making these issues important is that it is not okay for advertisers to tap into our emotions. In, “Ethics and Advertising,” Geoffrey Klempner makes an interesting counter argument. He observes that, “All parents know how children lust for toys…We do not lose that lust, we merely look for different things to attach ourselves to,” (Klempner). The idea is that we are not being made to want things we do not need, because we already want them. The ads in question are merely trying to make you choose a particular product over the others of its kind. Now, much less is at stake and the argument that ads unfairly tap into our emotions is less impactful even though it is no less true. But, there is more to being an ethical ad than how it acts on the target audience. There is also the effect of ads on everyone who is not there target audience.
In “Can Advertising Be Ethical?,” Martha Shaw points out that, “Ads can entertain us, upset us, embarrass us, or expose our children to things otherwise banned from daytime tv,” (Shaw). This is the level of freedom accorded to individuals, now in the hands of corporations. The unspoken idea making these issues important is that it is not okay for advertisers to tap into our emotions. In, “Ethics and Advertising,” Geoffrey Klempner makes an interesting counter argument. He observes that, “All parents know how children lust for toys…We do not lose that lust, we merely look for different things to attach ourselves to,” (Klempner). The idea is that we are not being made to want things we do not need, because we already want them. The ads in question are merely trying to make you choose a particular product over the others of its kind. Now, much less is at stake and the argument that ads unfairly tap into our emotions is less impactful even though it is no less true. But, there is more to being an ethical ad than how it acts on the target audience. There is also the effect of ads on everyone who is not there target audience.
In this ad for the new Super Seven Incher, from Burger King, multiple ethical concerns are present. There is clearly a sexual tone in the way the woman is depicted in full make up with and a facial expression that make her look more like a sex doll than a person. Also, the sandwich is placed directly in front of her and the other end of it fades to black transforming it from simple sandwich to phallic symbol. This tone is reinforced by the use of the word "blow" wich is very prominent. There are countless ways to advertise a sandwich, why make it sexual? The answer is probably that the target audience is adult males, and while men may not feel manipulated by this ad, it may still be unethical. I find this ad objectifying to women, so I am betting quite a few women see it this way as well. More importantly, what about children? Those old enough to pick up on the tone may infer that objectifying women is okay if it is in something as common as a sandwich ad. Those too young to understand may still be primed subconciously, without even understanding that their way of thinking is being shaped by the ad. If that seems ridiculous, consider how many different ads like this children see on a regular basis.
Advertising that is embedded into or disguised as entertainment clearly seems to be misleading and manipulative, particularly when employed in children's advertising. For example, http://www.gsn.com/cgi/free/play.pl?game_id=114, is a free flash game that is an example of a copy of a standard flash game (compare the first game to http://www.onlineflashgames.net/games/2713/bejeweled.html, a very old and popular flash game) that has been made over to incorporate candy, cookies, and the like into them. Children find these websites thinking they are just like any of the many other free flash game websites, but while on these sites they are constantly fed images of consumer products through the game instead of being able to ignore them on side of the screen. What's more is that the products are being associated with the fun the child experiences playing the game. At best, such ads are forcing us to view them by integrating with or masquerading as entertainment and sticking in our memory. At worst, these ads are manipulating us by subliminally associating our pleasure from being entertained with the product that is embedded, even if only slightly. The idea of consumers being forced to view ads has more to it than just disguised ads though. Michael Hiltzik in his article, "Ads invade our screens — and our private lives," reminds us that, "now ads take over your computer screen until you click to drive them off; ads play music or video at you, unbidden; floaters seem to follow your line of sight so you can't peek around them," (Hiltzik 1). On the internet, ads have ceased to exist only in the background, now they demand our attention. Do they have that right?
On another level from these issues which concern how individual ads affect us is the effect of advertising as a whole. Even when individual ads maintain a certain level of ethical consideration, the effect of a body of such ads could still be outside the bounds of good ethics. Ads are everywhere we turn. An individual ad can be scrutinized first by officials and then by consumers for its fairness, but how fair is it to have such an overwhelming volume of ads to deal with? There is a surprising lack of research on this topic. Many of my sources pass over the subject by mentioning that advertising creates a consumer culture, but none stop to analyze it. There is some research on how women are effected by the ideal image of women presented by ads in general, but nothing on the impact of advertising as a whole on the masses in general. Aside from the psychological influence of advertising as a body.
Advertising that is embedded into or disguised as entertainment clearly seems to be misleading and manipulative, particularly when employed in children's advertising. For example, http://www.gsn.com/cgi/free/play.pl?game_id=114, is a free flash game that is an example of a copy of a standard flash game (compare the first game to http://www.onlineflashgames.net/games/2713/bejeweled.html, a very old and popular flash game) that has been made over to incorporate candy, cookies, and the like into them. Children find these websites thinking they are just like any of the many other free flash game websites, but while on these sites they are constantly fed images of consumer products through the game instead of being able to ignore them on side of the screen. What's more is that the products are being associated with the fun the child experiences playing the game. At best, such ads are forcing us to view them by integrating with or masquerading as entertainment and sticking in our memory. At worst, these ads are manipulating us by subliminally associating our pleasure from being entertained with the product that is embedded, even if only slightly. The idea of consumers being forced to view ads has more to it than just disguised ads though. Michael Hiltzik in his article, "Ads invade our screens — and our private lives," reminds us that, "now ads take over your computer screen until you click to drive them off; ads play music or video at you, unbidden; floaters seem to follow your line of sight so you can't peek around them," (Hiltzik 1). On the internet, ads have ceased to exist only in the background, now they demand our attention. Do they have that right?
On another level from these issues which concern how individual ads affect us is the effect of advertising as a whole. Even when individual ads maintain a certain level of ethical consideration, the effect of a body of such ads could still be outside the bounds of good ethics. Ads are everywhere we turn. An individual ad can be scrutinized first by officials and then by consumers for its fairness, but how fair is it to have such an overwhelming volume of ads to deal with? There is a surprising lack of research on this topic. Many of my sources pass over the subject by mentioning that advertising creates a consumer culture, but none stop to analyze it. There is some research on how women are effected by the ideal image of women presented by ads in general, but nothing on the impact of advertising as a whole on the masses in general. Aside from the psychological influence of advertising as a body.