And discuss the following: What Makes Advertising Ethical or Unethical Cite specific examples - Research Paper Example

Ethical and Unethical Advertising Introduction Advertising is a form of communication that is made for the purpose of encouraging, convincing, persuading or even manipulating a target group of audience into buying a product or idea. Advertising is a common business practice the world over and is attributed the success of businesses and projects. The approaches used by advertising firms have been exposed to a number of criticisms and applauds depending on whether they are viewed as ethical or unethical.

Ethical advertising is the process of presenting the product to the potential customers in a manner that is perceived morally upright and respecting the value of humanity and respect. However, unethical advertising is an exploitative process in which putting forward an idea or a product in a manner that is both misleading, offensive and biased towards the belief of a particular group of people. This paper provides details into the elements of both ethical and unethical advertising with examples in each situation.

Unethical Advertising Even though advertising is meant to sway the belief of a consumer, it can be conducted in a way that is both ethical and pleasing to the people. Advertising is however considered totally unethical if it exploits the moral and cultural values in the process of convincing the consumers. As a way of convincing the consumers, advertisers seeks to change the thinking of consumers to fit into their own and as a result see value in their product. Adverts that require viewers to support a cause most of the time exploit the consumer’s empathy so as to make the support the cause.

An advert that requires the viewers to support hungry children will use weak, malnourished and sick children in their screen shots. This is unethical for it exploits the situation of the children in trying to support a course (Steiner and Steiner 2012, p.347). In addition, the continuous use of sex appeal to lure adolescents and youths into a product, as an example of unethical advertising. In these adverts, sex information is fused into a product and the targeted consumer are made to believe they can derive such pleasures or look similar to the models used if they buy the product.

Sex appeal in advertising is meant to attract the attention of the viewers and make them develop interest in the product; it is an example of exploiting the moral and psychological state of a human being with the intentions of making them accept a product. Women are also portrayed in most of these adverts as sex objects in order to increase the appeal of a product to the youth, this is ethically incorrect as it fails to appreciate that all are created equal whether male or female. The use of children in advertisement is also considered as unethical form of advertising; this is especially so if the product being advertised targets the adult population by raising their emphatic feelings towards the child (Steiner and Steiner 2012, p.342). American advertising federation (2008, p.8) attributes the higher number of unethical adverts targeting children to their level of development.

Children at their age have less developed faculties and can therefore be easily dissuaded into buying an idea or a product. That is what unethical adverts aim at by introducing several manipulative adverts in between children programs. One such advert featured in an antismoke campaign had a child with a polythene bag over its head. This advert was meant to create the picture of suffocation as the child was unable to breath from the polythene bag. However, it arouses the emotional faculty of the viewers and thus does not meet its major objective as an antismoke advert.

Ethical Advertising The truth about a particular product, its abilities, limits, usefulness and importance are given accurately without intentional exaggerations. Ethical advertising lacks the use of hidden agendas and innuendos that are meant to convince the consumers into accepting to use a product. According to the international charter, ethical advertising involves clear distinctions of one’s products from those of its competitors without malice. It uses its unique brands, logos and abilities of its products.

Unethical advertising however seeks to destroy a competitors brand and reaps from the confusion that such an action creates (El Hatab 2008, p.5). In trying to make their products appealing to all races, companies use an advert that features both a black and Caucasian character. The logic of the advert is not to advance inclusivity and cohesion in our society but to exploit the racial differences that exist. This is socially unconscious which does not characterize ethical advertising (El Hatab 2008, p.9). The approach used in advertising a good should be socially responsible and acceptable to all.

It should not seek to exploit the suffering of others with the intention of creating empathy and touching on the feelings of the target consumers. Advertising is an integral part of a business and thus cannot be eliminated. However, there is need for responsible and ethical advertising. The use of children in situations, which are meant to arouse a feeling of sympathy among the target consumers, is unethically wrong. References American advertising federation. (2008). Principles and practices for advertising ethics, 1-29.

Retrieved from http://www.aaf.org/images/public/aaf_content/images/ad%20ethics/IAE_Principles_Practices.pdf El Hatab, M. (2008). The ethical dilemma of advertising: the effect of sex appeal and emotional appeal on adolescents 1-58. Retrieved from http://www.ethicsbasedmarketing.net/articles/EBM%20Resources/Women%20Abuse%20in%20Advertising-May%20Hattab.pdf Steiner, J., and Steiner, G. (2012). Business, Government, and Society: A managerial perspective, 331-351. (13th Ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.