Advertising: The Violation of Business and Media Ethics - Essay Example

Table of Contents Table of Contents Advertising: The Violation of Business and Media Ethics 2 Ethical Guidelines 3 Business Ethics 4 Media Ethics 5 The Bounds of Ethical Advertisement 8 Advertisements' Objectification of the Female Body 9 Conclusion 16 Bibliography 17 Advertising: The Violation of Business and Media Ethics Business and media are inextricably linked in a co-dependent, mutually beneficial relationship. As explained by the media and advertising scholar, Gossage (1987), the media functions as the information bridge between corporations and the public and is the primary and most important channel through which any business concern publicises its existence, let alone its products and services to the public, or consumer market. As for the media and despite the fact that it is supposed to be n objective observer and informant, its fundamental incapacity to do so vis--vis business interests are amply proven by King-Shekleman (2000). As King-Shekleman (2000) establishes through the use of empirical and factual evidence, not only is the media owned by business interests and corporate conglomerates but media revenues are primarily generated through positive relations with the business world. Quite simply stated, even the so-called independent, non-corporate owned media cannot function or survive without corporate advertising accounts (King-Shekleman, 2000). Given the inextricable relationship between media and business, a number of ethical concerns, primarily revolving around advertising, emerge. These concerns may be articulated as the persistent failure of the media to constructively discriminate between the products and services it agrees to advertise, the content of advertisement claims, and the consistent failure of many advertisements to adhere to either the media's ethical guidelines or those imposed upon business concerns through the principle of corporate social responsibility. Even though one must acknowledge the principles of freedom of speech, the fact is that a significant percentage of advertisements, as shall be proven through the use of examples, not only directly violate established media and corporate ethics but have a discernibly and undeniably negative impact upon the society which they target. Ethical Guidelines Ethics, as noted by numerous scholars, is largely regarded as an area of academic interest, with little, if any, practical value. To fortify his argument pertaining to the contemporaneous dominance of the aforementioned perspective on ethics, Shue (1995) comments on the fact that an increasing number of professionals have urged for the implementation of stricter ethical guidelines and codes, even as many more have argued that existent ones are idealistic and inapplicable to the contemporary business environment. In other words, there is a detectable increase in ethical violations across professions, as evidenced by the first argument. However, as noted from the second argument, professionals have justified the predominant failure to abide by existent codes of ethics through their declaration of these codes as idealistic and impractical. The fact is, and as may be determined from the above, that there is an ethics crisis across the professions. Following a review of the ethics guidelines supposedly governing the business and the media worlds, however, the argument shall show that the existent codes are realistic, rather than idealistic and practical, rather than impractical. Not only that but as the later section shall show, adherence to these codes could have effectively prevented such false and unethical advertisement messages as have adversely impacted groups in society. Business Ethics While corporate and business entities may be responsible towards their shareholders for the generation of profits, the fact is that they are required to do so within the bounds of established business ethics. As noted by Manokha (2004) numerous aspects of business ethics have been incorporated into national and international laws dictating the operation and behaviour of business entities but much more exists from without the parameters of the law. For example, while it is unethical for businesses to deliberately defraud shareholders or knowingly sell customers faulty products, existent laws have established the illegality of transgressing the aforementioned ethical considerations. The law, however, does not demand that business entities exercise social corporate responsibility, although existent and operative business ethics codes do (Manokha, 2004). The fact that the law does not impose the exercise of social corporate responsibility upon business entities does not invalidate this particular ethics precept nor does it undermine the exigencies of adherence to it. Corporate social responsibility is the cornerstone of business ethics (Wartick and Cochrane, 1985; Weaver, Trevino and Cochrane, 1999; Manokha, 2004). The concept of corporate social responsibility is predicted upon the premise that business entities are an integral part of the community in which they operate and, inasmuch as their financial health is dependant upon positive communal perceptions of it, should exhibit an interest in communal welfare. Within the context of this understanding, operative business ethics dictate that business entities harmonise between their economic interests and the welfare of the community. The creation of the above stated harmony, or synthesis between business and communal interests is not, as may be presupposed, a difficult ethical requirement. As noted by Manokha (2004), it could simply be translated to mean that a business must demonstrate such minimal social ethics and responsibilities as would inhibit it from knowingly harming a community's interests. Based upon the stated, ad as immediately pertains to the topic at hand, the implication is that ethical business practices disallow corporations from advertising their products through misinformation. Media Ethics While the exercise of business ethics function to prevent corporations from encouraging the marketing/advertisement of their goods and services through false claims and misinformation, let alone through the popularisation of harmful stereotypes which cold adversely impact the welfare of communal/social groups, media ethics explicitly disallows this. That the media enjoys freedom of speech and that none should attempt the imposition of limitations on these freedoms is an arguable fact. However, as Graber (1986) notes, the media's freedoms are limited by the profession's operative ethical code and by its responsibilities and duties towards society. Not only do the media function as society's objective informant but as its watchdog. Within the context of the stated responsibilities, the media has an ethical duty, as dictated by the operative professional code of ethics, to objectively report the truth and responsibly convey information (Graber, 1986). As such, the media's responsibilities as watchdog and objective informant immediately implies that they should not function as the channels through which misinformation and harmful information is communicated to the public. In light of the operative media ethics guidelines, the very notion of advertising appears to be an anomaly. On the one hand, the media are expected to objectively convey the truth and not engage in the communication of either harmful information or misinformation. On the other hand, advertisement is the communication of both critically biased information/misinformation, often pertaining to harmful products and targeting vulnerable groups who are immediately and directly harmed by the advertising information and images conveyed (Vladick, Weber and Gostin, 2004). The fact that media advertisements are immediately contradictory to the media's self-purported goal of objectively informing the public of the truth is evidenced by the goals of advertising. The purpose of advertisements is to inform consumers about specific products and services in such a way and through the use of such images and language as would motivate them to purchase the advertised product and/or service. According to T. Reichert and J.J. Lambiase (2003), media communications and marketing scholars, advertisements may be defined as the creative presentation of product and service information, with the specified aim being to "evoke reactions within viewers" and to "influence consumer behaviour" towards the determination to purchase the advertised product (Reichert and Lambiase, 2003). Within the definition framework of advertising, one notes an immediate conflict with media ethics. Media ethics dictate the communication of the objective truth, while advertising calls for the beautification of that truth, culminating its prejudicial rendition, for the explicated purpose of influencing consumers towards purchase. Similarly, media ethics dictates that media professionals not publish information which is harmful to society or which my harm members within while advertising is inherently based on the communication, and popularization, of the aforementioned information-type (Vladick, Weber and Gostin, 2004). On the basis of the above, and in consideration of both media and business ethics, advertising is inarguably at odds with both. While both business and media ethics urge the exercise of social responsibility and the maintenance of honesty, the advertising world is replete with examples of dishonest and irresponsible communication of information, with this being nowhere more evident than in the tendency of advertisements to exploit the female body. In fact, and as shall be argued, the predominant tendency of advertisements to rely on the female body and sexual imagery to sell products has harmed select groups in society. The Bounds of Ethical Advertisement Advertisements are expected to publicize a product or service and attract consumers towards their consumption and use but, must do so within the bounds of both business and media ethics (Stock, 1978). Advertisements must, therefore, refrain from making false claims or implying that the product possesses a utility which it does not. Similarly, and apart from applying the aforementioned media guidelines on honesty, advertisements are expected to adhere to business ethics pertaining to social responsibility with the implication being that they should not popularize images or associations which may harm certain segments of a society and, most definitely, should not claim false uses and benefits to a product or service (Stock, 1978). In other words, advertisements should inform consumers about existent goods and services without making false claims or implying harmful associations. Even though advertisements are expected to abide by business and media ethics guidelines, this doe not imply that advertisers have to present the entire truth. As Manokha (2004) notes, advertisements are not required to present the entire truth pertaining to the advertised product or service but are allowed the license of highlighting only the positive. The abidance by ethics guidelines does not, in other words, obstruct the function of advertising as marketers may promote products and services through emphasis on their benefits and utility. They may not, however, claim false benefits or uses or promote products and services through imagery and messages which may have harmful consequences (Manokha, 2004). Advertisements' Objectification of the Female Body Currently, advertisements do not adhere to the outlined ethical guidelines. Instead of informing consumers about a product or services, on the basis of its proven uses and benefits, advertisements create a blurry and confusing picture of that which is being advertised by promoting it via images and texts which are quite unrelated to the use or benefits of the product itself. For instances, advertisements are relying more and more on the association of the naked female body with non-sexual products. By doing so, advertisers fail in their most important task which is informing consumers of the uses, benefits and advantages of a product. Instead, they overlook all that and choose to increase sales and attraction to the product by associating it with sex. Generally, these products are displayed alongside pictures of naked or partially naked women, communicating highly negative stereotypes of the female as a sex object. By advertising products through sexual appeal, some would argue that advertisers are fulfilling their function of creating awareness and demand for products. Such an argument is effectively supported by Frank William Jefkins' (1971) definition of the function of advertising. As Jefkins (1971), print and electronic commercials have three specific functions and must fulfill all to be successful. These functions are persuading audiences to purchase products using as few words as possible, outlining the possible benefits that will arise from the use of a product, and reaching as many people as possible at the lowest cost possible (Jefkins, 1971). In analyzing these functions, one may begin to understand why sexual appeal has entered the picture. The first function, which is to persuade audiences to purchase a product, is not easy in light of intense business competition. For instance, people may respond to a Persil detergent advertisement by questioning why they should not purchase Ariel instead, especially as they have the same utility. However, if women are informed that the use of Persil increases male attraction to them either because it keeps hands soft, or clothes extremely clean, allowing women to satisfy the male expectation that they take the best possible care of them, then this is an advantage. In other words, while the detergent itself may not be any different from its leading competitors and may even be more expensive, it becomes remarkable due to the fact that it helps women remain attractive and satisfactorily carry out their responsibilities towards the male. Such a message may be conveyed through the image of soft hands or sparkling white shirts. Taken from this perspective, the use of sexual appeal becomes understandable as a means of associating products with specific and unforgettable images that appeal to consumers' desires. Furthermore, the simple images that are placed alongside print advertisements of this nature are very cost-effective, thereby fulfilling the function of promoting a product at the lowest possible cost. Due to the fact that sexual images in advertisement pictures and text are remarkable, memorable and appeal to one of man's most powerful basic instincts, marketing products through sexual appeal is increasing. As explained by both sociologists and psychologists, of all the methods used in advertising, sex appeal catches the attention best, because it is our second strongest drive, next to our drive for survival (Thoits, 1989). Consequently, when advertisers employ sexual appeal in their marketing and promotion of products, they can guarantee a response given that they are appealing to one of man's strongest basic instincts. It is due to the general appeal of sex that a great majority of print advertisements increasingly rely on the sexualization of products through images and text with a high degree of sexual content. While it is possible to understand the rationale behind the use of sex in advertising as a means of attracting audience attention, one cannot ignore the impact of such marketing strategies on popular attitudes towards women. These advertisements actually transform the female into a body; an object (Morgan, 1996). That is, in illustrating a half-naked female body, side-by-side with a product offered for sale, the underlying message here is that both the product and the naked female body are objects for purchase and even consumption (Stafford, 1998). While such objectification of the female body is understandable in advertisements which specifically promote sexual products or services, its use in the promotion of non-sexual products, conveys very negative stereotypes pertaining to male and female relations (Stafford, 1998). As most people can observe, such advertisements basically informs the consumers that the female is an object; less than human and designed specifically for the fulfillment of the needs of men. Thus, consequent to the proliferation of such advertisements, the public is increasingly becoming attuned to the objectification of the female body (Morgan, 1996) Advertising products through the exploitation and objectification of the female body is not only unethical because of the adverse effect it has on the female's public image and status but because, from the media and business ethics' points of view, it claims a false utility and benefit to a product. That such ads unethically advertise non-existent and false benefits and utility to a product is perfectly illustrated through the recent Clairol Shampoo campaign, starring Alyssa Milano. In this campaign, the actress is pictured sitting on a king-size bed with her boyfriend, searching for her Clairol shampoo bottle, supposedly because she wants to shower. During the search, the camera focuses on Milano's body and never on the product that is supposedly being advertised. The commercial concludes with the Clairol shampoo bottle jumping up and down on the bed, with the implication being that Milano and her boyfriend's engagement in lovemaking is the source of this movement. The point here is, and as noted by Reichert (2003) is that Clairol is hardly ever mentioned or depicted throughout this ad. There is no mention that the product has any nutritional or beauty benefits for the hair but, instead, implies that the product is an aphrodisiac and women who use it are irresistible. Clairol is not advertised n this ad but Milano's body and sex are (Reichert, 2003). The fact that advertisements have an unrelenting unethical tendency to objectify the female body and depend upon the selling of the advertised product through the sale of the female and sex is again illustrated through fast food ads. In an attempt to make a comeback and overcome it competitors, Burger King recently launched a highly sexually charged camping. In an advertisement of its chicken fries, the Burger King ad featured a fictional band called CoqRoq, singing "shake your lean white meat," to audiences of sexually frenzied female fans. Again, it need be mentioned that the product supposedly being advertised was hardly featured at all throughout the commercial and no information was provided about it at all. Instead, the advertising message was that Burger King functions as a form of aphrodisiac on women. In direct reaction to this commercial and the entire Burger King campaign, as a matter of fact, Grow and Beucke (2005) comment that not only was the campaign excessive but it was totally unrelated to the product and service being advertised. Insofar as this ad campaign not only failed to provide any information pertaining to the product and service being advertised but, claimed false utility, further exploiting and objectifying the female body in doing so, it exemplifies the unethical advertising tend which currently predominates. The fact is that advertising has not only objectified the female body and portrayed it as a sexual instrument in order to sell products n services but the diet industry has unethically exploited these images to sell their products. In defining the qualities that make a female attractive, further conveying the message that the female's success is measured by her ability to attract male attention, diet product companies and advertisers play on the element of fear. As pointed out by Tony L. Henthorne and Michael S. LaTour (1993) in "Fear Appeals in Print Advertising: An Analysis of Arousal and Ad Response," print advertisements carefully select images that have powerful "fear appeals." That is, they illustrate ideal images of the female body, for instance, sending the message that acquiring this ideal body is, in some way, helped by the use of the advertised diet product. In other words, advertisers try to persuade the audience to use a product by conveying the fearful message that if they do not, they will not attain the ideal image required by society (Henthorne and LaTour, 1993). Consequently, it is possible to argue that advertisements use sexual images to promote products, not only to make the advertisements themselves remarkable and memorable but to make the female audience fearful of the effect of not using the advertised product. To further emphasize the inherent violation of ethical guidelines associated with doing so, Weaver, Trevino and Cochrane (1999) highlight the fact that not only are many of these products harmful to the health and, if they can be tolerated by adult females, most definitely cannot be by adolescents and teenagers, but that advertisers and the diet industry do not mention this in their ads. Instead, they simply depend on the promotion of fear in order to incite consumer interest rarely, if ever, mentioning the consequences of use. The fear appeal of advertisements, together with their objectification of the female body and the stereotyping of females as tools for the sexual satisfaction of men, has attracted a great amount of objection from feminist groups. In "Beautyand the Beast of Advertising," Jean Kilbourne (2001) emphasizes the negative role that advertising has had in promoting gender stereotypes, and for creating "an ideal and impossible standard" of female beauty. Kilbourne (2001) states that advertisements' insistence upon portraying the female either as a housewife or as a sexual object which, in both cases, sends the message that her role is ensuring the comfort and satisfaction of the male. This conveys to audience of both men and women that the only female quality worth possessing, as it ultimately guarantees success or failure, is beauty (Kilbourne, 2001). However, Kilbourne correctly argues that the standards of beauty those advertisements have established, and against which many women measure themselves, are impossible. These images are "artificial and can only be achieved artificially" (Kilbourne, 2001). Consequently, as they view these advertisements and their own failure to achieve the standards of beauty established, many women are left feeling unsatisfied with themselves and their bodies, motivating many to purchase the advertised diet products and suffer the health consequences of doing so. The fact here is, and as the above examples have tried to illustrate, advertisements are increasing operating from without the bounds of business and media ethics. They do not seek to inform consumers about the advertised product or service nor do they, in many cases, mention the product except in passing. Instead, advertisements are collectively engaged in the selling of products through false claims of utility and benefits. Conclusion In the final analysis, one must concede that business entities have the right to not only advertise their products and services but to do o in such a way as would incite consumer interest and promote sales. However, in accordance with both business and media ethics, they may not do so through false claims of utility or without consideration of the responsibility they owe towards society. Insofar as advertisements are based upon false claims and disregard the mentioned responsibility, they are in violation of both existent business and media ethics guidelines. Bibliography Gossage, H.L. (1986). Is There Any Hope for Advertising San Francisco: University of Illinois Press. Graber, D.A. (1986). Press freedom and the general welfare.' Political Science Quarterly. 101(2): 257-275. Retrieved February 5, 2006 from Jstor. Grow, B. and D. Beucke (2005). Burger King: Raunch with those fries' Business Week. 3947: 9-9. Retrieved February 5, 2006 from EBSCOhost. Henthorne, T.L. and M.S. 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