Week 6

1. Week 6 ETHICS AND ADVERTISING

2. Ethical Issues • 1. The advertising business commonly defends itself using classical liberal philosophic assumptions.

3. 2. The advertising message is one-sided communication, with the inherent potential of deception by omission

4. 3. The purpose of all advertising is to cause us to think or act in accordance with the advertiser’s intent , whether it be noble or venal.

5. 4. Frequently, advertising seeks out the individual rather than the individual seeking it.

6. 5. Advertising continues to be controversial third party with the mass media. • - that advertising can change the subject of the media coverage itself. • - that advertising can alter the content of the media coverage • - that advertising can affect the type of available media.

7. 6. The advertising agency commission system still continues to reward agencies for what they buy (media space and/ or time rather than what they produce (ads).

8. 7. Finally, the underlying uncertainty regarding the outcome of the advertising process leaves it wide open for differing interpretations of the same event.

9. Criticisms of Advertising • Advertisers make use of cognitivedissonance to achieve their goals. (Cognitive dissonance describes the state where a message and an action give conflicting and uncomfortable signals. The desire to eliminate that dissonance is a strong one, strong enough to influence purchasing behaviour, voting behaviour, habits or opinions.)

10. Advertisers make use of strategic ambiguity to achieve their goals. Ads play on strategic ambiguity by employing “built-in vagueness,” words used when the writer or speaker does not want to be pinned down.

11. Caveat emptor (let the buyer beware) - philosophy which places responsibility on the buyer to separate claims and performance, appearances and reality.

12. Advertorials -- ads that look like news copy; or an advertising insert that looks like a special news supplement. • Infomercials -- commercials that resemble programming.