3. Ethics are standards or moral values which dictate
what is right and what is wrong, or good or bad,
which are:
culturally-based and formed based upon
society’s expectations
vary by situation
and by person (everyone develops their own
code of ethics)
5. In a sense ethics really boils down to respect.
Ethical people, ethical companies and ethical
activities show respect for the world around them
and are aware of the consequences of their
actions upon others.
6.
7. Dear Ann:
I have a problem. I have two brothers. One brother is in advertising,
the other was put to death in the electric chair for murder. My
mother died from insanity when I was three years old. My two sisters
are prostitutes, and my father sells narcotics to high-school students.
Recently I met a girl who was just released from a reformatory,
where she served time for smothering her illegitimate child to death,
and I want to marry her.
My problem is, if I marry this girl, should I tell her about my brother
who is in advertising?
8. Questionable ethics in advertising:
Ranked 43rd
among 45 professions surveyed for
honesty in Gallop poll.
12. deceptive advertising (e.g. credit cards)
manipulative advertising (e.g. children
ads)
subliminal advertising (e.g. coke)
stereotyping (e.g. cooking oil)
fear appeal (e.g. insurance)
sexual advertising (e.g. axe)
misleading advertising (e.g. fast food)
13. The advertising industry has rarely looked
beyond the immediate success of its work
and the profitability of individual agencies.
It has tended to operate in a vacuum with
its only responsibility being to the Client’s
marketing objectives.
14.
15. In India, the Advertising Standards
Council of India (ASCI), established in
1985, is committed to the cause of self-
regulation in advertising.
ASCI ensures the protection of the
interests of consumers and was formed
with the support of advertisers, agencies,
broadcaster etc
16. To maintain and enhance the publics’
confidence in advertising. ASCI seek to
ensure that advertisements conform to its
Code for Self-Regulation which requires
advertisements to be:
Honest Representations
Non-offensive to the Public
Against Harmful Products/Situations
Fair in Competition
17. In exceptional circumstances, when it
appears that an advertisement is in serious
breach of the ASCI Code and its continued
transmission on/through/by any medium
causes or has the effect of causing public
harm and/or injury or its continuation is
against public interest, then the ASCI
would, pending investigation, direct the
advertiser/agency to to suspend the
advertisement.
18. Sample Complaints Upheld in Sept’ 13
No Company Product Complaint
1 Hindustan
Unilever Ltd
Ponds Pure
White Face
Wash
“Pond’s pure white Face Wash contains
Activated Carbon”, “This goes in the
depth of your skin and removes dirt
and pollution and saves you from being
affected by any skin problems, get
instant glow on your skin”, “Picture
indicating “premature aging, wrinkles”.
These claims need to be
substantiated with necessary
support data
19. Sample Complaints Upheld in Sept’ 13
No Company Product Complaint
2 Maruti Suzuki India
Ltd
Maruti
Swift
TVC shows a minor (boy wearing
sun glasses) driving the Maruti
Swift recklessly.
Ad violates the guidelines on Ads
for Automobile vehicles as well as
the ASCI Code
22. We tell the truth -- but not always the Whole Truth.
Like lawyers, our job is to put our clients in the
best light. When you go on a job interview or a first
date, you don't assume a false identity - but you
probably don't make a full disclosure either.
Chances are you keep your lactose intolerance
and foot odor issues in the background, and save
your Federation Starfleet uniform for later in the
relationship - if there IS a later.
23. For a company trying to sell something, an ad is
like getting a job interview with millions of people
all at once. The ad wants to make a good first
impression and really, really doesn't want to make
people mad. But different people react differently.
24.
25.
26. "All of us who professionally use the mass
media are the shapers of the society. We
can vulgarize that society. We can brutalize
it. Or we can help lift it onto a higher level.“
~ Bill Bernback (Co-founder, DDB)
27. It is time that we all recognise the powerful
influence we have both intentionally and
accidentally on our economy, society and
environment and behave in a more responsible
manner
At one level we need to ensure that our work
never does harm by respecting the unintentional
consequences of our actions.
28. At another we need to start to harness that
power to do some good – not only to make our
clients more profitable but to make our society
happier and more cohesive and our
environment healthier and more sustainable.
29.
30. Nobody who ever worked in an advertising
agency, even somebody who was bitter about
working in an advertising agency, would really
say those things. It's such an exaggerated view
— lies, manipulations, subliminal advertising,
and all that. Advertising's never been more
honest than it is today. It has to be very
transparent in the way it talks to consumers.
Consumers are savvy. You can't succeed by
feeding them lies and manipulations. It would
backfire.
31.
32.
33.
34. “Ethics in Advertising” Pontifical Council for Social Communications. URL:
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/pccs/documents/rc_p
c_pccs_doc_22021997_ethics-in-ad_en.html
Chris Moore “Ethics in Advertising” Advertising Education Foundation. URL:
http://www.aef.com/on_campus/classroom/speaker_pres/data/3001
Ramanujam Sridhar “The Trouble with Ethics” The Hindu URL:
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/catalyst/2007/11/15/stories/20071115
50070200.htm
William M. O’Barr “Ethics and Advertising” Advertising Education
Foundations. URL: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/asr/v008/8.3unit13.html
William <. O’Barr “The Advertising Profession in the Public Eye” Advertising
Education Foundation. URL:
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/asr/v007/7.1unit05.html
Editor's Notes
(Plaque presented to Arnold Barban by the staff of Leo Burnett on his retirement from the agency.)
Its not that advertising people are bad people hell bent on making the world a worse place but that we don’t take responsibility for our actions and we don’t respect anything but our client’s immediate business success and our financial bottom line.
A lot of people question the ethics of selling consumers things they don&apos;t need - which presupposes that we shouldn&apos;t have the things we don&apos;t need but want anyway. We don&apos;t need 90% of the stuff in our apartments. We don&apos;t need artwork, among other things. Neanderthals didn&apos;t need cave paintings, but they sure brighten up a grotto. Why did so many of us bring bottled water - that we paid for - into this meeting room today, when carrying a canteen of tap water is so much more… rational?
Advertising, like human beings, lives where Reason meets Desire. Years ago, The Coca-Cola Company invented a better product. No consumer product had ever been so thoroughly tested with so many consumers. This new Coke was provably much better. But consumers not only didn&apos;t buy it, they demonstrated against it. Because a lot of what they loved about &quot;real&quot; Coke wasn&apos;t inside the bottle. It was the idea of Coke and their experiences with it and how those experiences were connected to so much of what we imagine life in America should be like. Advertising isn&apos;t just about the things we buy. It&apos;s about how we feel about things, including ourselves. That&apos;s what makes it interesting.