Design Ethics and Contemporary Advertisements - Essay Example

? Habibun Nahar M113032 Design Ethics of practice-MINI BLOCK CP5010 Dipti Bhagat Design Ethics of practice Ethics is the study of moral principles and behaviour that are good for an individual and the society at large. The term ethics comes from a Greek word ethos which implies ‘custom’ and ‘character’ in English translation (Rohmann, 2000, p. 39). In advertisement, choice of what is to be used is one of the most important factors that has to be considered, it is always absurd to use pictures or images that are devoid of ethical consideration, this explains why much time it taken in deciding what merits ethics before adverts are finally brought to the public glare. This paper highlights the competing values that have played out the contemporary companies that advertise their products. In 1996, Calvin Klein also known as CK made remarkably advertisements in the televisions, and magazine, the advert was in promotion of their jeans products. The advert drew criticism from all quarter of the world given the kind of pictures that were used in the adverts, the company used picture of some young people that were posed in a provocative manner- the young people were actually nude. They made this pictures be aired in televisions attracting huge uproar of complains and castigation. Notwithstanding, CK has had a fair share of controversies surrounding their advertisement criteria, in 1980's they aired ads that saw a 15-year-old actress Brooke Shields saying, ‘Nothing comes between me and my Calvin’ (Berry 2000, p. 41). The advert becomes controversial in the sense that it is mostly concentrated around the actress private parts; this has raised eyebrows and attracted condemnation from the public. The focus of the advert on the specific parts of the actress body was perceived unethical and resulted into complains that were given then. The company staged a series of ads in 1996 that was aimed at promoting the CK jeans wear by engaging models who posed in suggestive ways. The ads began in early July and ran in several magazines that were read by those considered to be under aged. For instance, during the period of advertisement in the magazines, young girls aged 12 years got access to the pictures that were considered unethical. Many publishers, in this relation claimed that the adverts that were used by CK then bordered pornography and should not have been aired to the public. Figure A shows one of the images taken from the ad of 1996 Figure A As can be seen in the pictures, the ad exhibited a photographer shooting a young male and a female models in what appeared to be a wood-panelled basement. The shooting was coupled with a creepy, predator voice of the young lady asking the man who is half dressed some suggestive questions. The lady asked “Do you think you can rip off that shirt on your body?” the young man then responded and obliged to the young lady’s question by removing the shirt. She continued and commented “That's a nice body, do you work out?” at this time, the camera used in the shoot out was concentrating in the young lady’s private parts. Parent groups and children welfare organizations raised questions about the age of the participants in the campaign, many of whom looked to be under 18. These organizations felt that the children were being coerced to appear in the shoot out under the pretence that they will be normal shooting but the whole issue changes to the nude shooting that is used for CK adverts. According to the organizations, adverts should be moderated even if they have to be suggestive about sex, the one that was used by CK went overboard since the shoot out was done in an environment that depicted pornography. The belief that the advert bordered on pornography is also accentuated by the fact that one can hear the photographer instructing the actress on how to look like a pornographic actress.  This public complain was taken to the department of justice and investigations were warranted to look into the possibility of the advert having violated child phonographic laws. The investigations were followed but in November that same year, lawyers who were pursuing the case dropped it following their realization that the models used in the adverts were all adults and that there was no child misuses in the advert. Considering the CK advert of 1996, everyone at the time thought that the models used in the adverts shoots were underage porn’s Polaroid and seven years after the advert was aired, I considered collecting the opinion of the public again with regard to the 1996 CK ads (Erlbaum 2004, p. 74). The full footage of the advert was put in the you tube and the response were as follows; 68.4% confirmed that the advert was a terrible error, 16.6% said that is was a savvy marketing while the remaining 15.0% showed no concern about the content of the advert, good or bad. In view of most of the ads by CK, it can be noticed that women have been depicted in an orgy situation; this is demeaning to the female characters in the society since they are perceived to be sex objects. It is difficult to avoid this since the evidence can be seen almost daily. In references to the CK ad of 1996 most of the public in America negatively reacted to the adverts and cited that the young models ought not to have been used in the unethical advert that only served to be provocative. The jeans designer, Calvin Klein following the public complains decided to withdraw the advertisement campaign that featured youthful models in the CK product promotion. He confirmed that the intention of the campaign was only meant for promoting the product contrary to other peoples speculation that it was designed to encourage child pornography. In fact Klein said “placing the kiddie porn stigma on my clothes was not the intention”. In a full page New York Times advertisement, Klein made a clarification that the intention of the ads were to connect with the young people and not to offend the society as it has since been taken. They have a strong defined line of what they are capable of doing and those they can not (Patterson, 1998, p. 57). The product boycott by various religious groups made the campaign for the products associated with the CK jeans withdrawn in August of 1996 after a public outcry. The media has created and supported the idea that "sex sells." When it comes to provocative images of youth and beauty except society was not ready for Klein’s advert. Even so, the young models consented to their roles while the society sets the principles of the system. To justify the use of young models in adverts posing in proactive way is a demand of the society that we live in, society thrives on seeing new thin, People want to see models that are flawless cutting edge hence the younger model. The general public is in contradiction when boundaries are pushed for the designers.   The code of ethics in media was created by a suggestion from the 1947 Hutchins Commission (Mathew 1998, p. 58). They suggested that newspapers, broadcasters and journalists had started to become more responsible for journalism and thought they should be held accountable (Fink 1988, p. 64). Calvin Klein Jeans has cut itself a niche in the society through the adverts that it presence in the market can not be overstated since it is a house hold name. Figure B shows another advert that attracted public outcry and the lady that is used in the advert happened to be the wife of starring Williams; she was banned following his recognition with the adverts that could be misconstrued for sexual violence scene. It was considered unethical that she did not find it inappropriate to engage is such posture that was made public, the Australian authorities retaliated by banning her promotions. This advert has been vehemently accused of sensitive posture that should not be availed to the public. Figure B Calvin Klein Jeans’s ad that was taken down from Australian billboards The image was demeaning to women by suggesting that she is a plaything for men as shown in the pictures. Young women should resist pressure from guys not to do this sort of thing as they make the women to be inferior being in the society. The ad besides having a wrong perception on girls, it continued through writing that "This is what hot girls do!" "You exist for the sexual pleasure of men!" the ad says. Whereas it is normal for girls to be with three men at once, the advert overstepped the mandate by exposing the lady with the three men in a situation that depicted that they were playing with her. The image equally has shown demeaning to men too as it has depicted them to be advancing sexual violence towards women. Ethics tackle some of the fundamental questions of human life; how should people live? What should people do and in what particular situations? Whereas the designers and the producers have the right to promote their products, it is important to note that the society and the public have to be respected. Pictures that show privates parts and all those that are considered nudity should be avoided, the adverts should be made such that they accord respect to all the gender sides and still depicts what the designer what the public to notice in regard to the products. The media are also suppose to take charge by evaluating the adverts as proposed by the producers and designers so that they can also mitigate on the content that is taken to the public by different bodies. The media and advertisement companies can play a pivotal role in keeping at a bay those adverts that do not merit taking to the public. Reference List Berry, David (2000) Ethics and Media Culture, Oxford, Focal Press C. Fink Conard (1988) Media Ethics In The Newsroom and Beyond .Georgia, McGraw-Hill Books Journal of Mass Media Ethics 19(1), 56-71 (2004) Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Mathew, Kieran, (1998) Media Ethics, USA, Routeledge Patterson, Philip (1998) Media Ethics Issues Cases, United States, Brown & Benchmark Rohmann, Chris (2002) The Dictionary Of Important Idea and Thinkers, London, Arrow Books WWW.YouTube.com/CK banned ad1996 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1322815/Lara-Stone-Calvin-Klein-Jeans-ad-banned-Australia-suggestive-rape.html (Figure B photo) Word count 1,660 Read More