Ethics in Advertising
Right now I am attending The University of South Florida and I plan to major in advertising. Today there is a lot of controversy in the ethics of advertising. For instance, the advertisement for Calvin Klein underwear. He had a huge billboard in the middle of Times Square. On that billboard was a picture of two little children in their underwear, standing on a couch, grinning and clowning around. Critics complained it bordered on pornography and could encourage pedophilia. The controversy appeared to be a clash between outraged religious conservatives and the bold fashion designer who's known for publishing the bounds of sexuality and taste in advertising. From explicit sexual imagery to pictures that evoke tender emotions, such as happy kids romping around in their underwear, almost anything goes if it helps sells a product. With the average American now exposed to 3,000 advertising images a day, ad designers feel a need to shock, stand out and grab consumers in new ways, eve!n if it is totally out of line. In the end the controversy led Mr. Klein to cancel the billboard in Times Square. In society there are so many different cultures and races. Everyone in this world is brought up with his or her own beliefs and values,
A man named Patrick Murphy believed that an analysis was necessary before making any suggestions on how advertising could be improved, both in the United States and worldwide. He examined three specific topics. One deals with a survey of major corporations, a second pertained to company ethics statements and the third provided a rationale for the low level of ethics regarding advertising from the general public. He conducted a survey in September 1997 of large U.S. based companies. It was drawn from Forbes 500 companies, which were reported in the April issue of that magazine. A two-page survey was sent to 785 companies appearing on that list. One of the questions asked whether the companies written code of ethics contained specific guidance in 14 areas including advertising. Of the 14 categories listed, advertising ranked the lowest, with just more that 25% of the firm indicating that their code incorporated guidance on ethics in advertising. A possible reason for the lack o! Issues of ethics often center around advertising's potential impact on children. Since 1970, many concerns and criticisms have been expressed about the effects of ads on kids, and many laws have been proposed to deal with the effects. Most recently it has become common for advertising critics to cast otherwise unconstitutional regulatory proposals in terms of child protection. Advertising is constantly bombarded by criticism. It is accused of encouraging materialism and consumption, of stereotyping, of causing us to purchase items for which we have no need, of taking advantage of children, of manipulating our behavior, using sex to sell, and generally contributing to the down fall of our social system. Barely a week goes by without some advertisement or campaign, being a focal point of some controversy. There are even web sites dedicated to criticizing various aspects of advertising. To illustrate some of the many attacks on advertising, I have compiled a list of recent examples. It is intended to provide some ideas about how the public perceives advertising and to give a sense of the many legal and ethical problems in the advertising profession. nd evidence concerning the products true quality. Most cases started by the FTC never require the Commission to make a final decision about the deceptiveness of an advertiser's claim. Those cases end instead, in a consent order whereby the advertiser simply agrees to do what the FTC staff asks. ------------------------------------------------------
Some common words found in the essay are:
Times Square, Patrick Murphy, Ethics Advertising, Act Amendments, Legal Ethics, Sheets Issues, Wonder Bread, Advertising Division, Policy Statement, Constitution Amendment, ethics advertising, legal ethics, code ethics, commercial speech, ads cause consumption, protected amendment, ethical code, unfairness power, act practice, evidence concerning, tobacco control sheets, ftc regulate,
Approximate Word count = 1680
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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