Can Commercial Media be Ethical - Report Example

Can Commercial Media be Ethical? Can Commercial Media be Ethical? Introduction Following write up contains the answer to the question whether the media can be ethical while delivering content. Although, there is no straightforward answer to the question, but according to the research that I have carried out it proves that the media can not be ethical. The article will reveal a research that will comprise of articles that fall under the category of scholarly articles, books, and websites. It will also entail the benefits of ethics used in the media. However, the search has been narrowed down to advertisements, therefore, for this purpose the article will talk about the ethics of media from the point of view of advertisements. It will also contain ads from various brands that were banned for breaking the ethical barriers. Commercial Media Most of the content of media is staged, where the TV channels show that the Pope is blessing innumerable people, what is important in showing this on air is the millions of people who are viewing this at home not the ones present at the scene where the Pope is offering his blessings. Similarly, the political discussions shown that are witnessed on the TV require approval by the political authorities before these are presented to the viewers. Nevertheless, it can be said that such media programs are few, however, the point persists that such manipulated media is existent. Although, such ‘live Media’ events may be few in number but with the passage of time they are increasing in quantity (Rosengren, 1994). Thus, it can be implied that the human mind is largely conditioned by the media available on the internet, programs on TV, and articles available online and in the magazines. Many individuals believe it to be authentic and let it influence their mind sets. This perspective to look at the authenticity of media makes the consumer gullible to the gimmicks presented in the content of media available on TV, in News Papers, and magazines (Hiebert, 2001; Berman, Abraham, Battino, Shipnuck, & Neus, 2004). Journalism is another way to advertise the product in the market. The image of the advert entirely relies upon the sort of publicity it receives. Usually, this type of advertising is used for the events and media programs; creating a hype for the program in order to increase the TRP’s of the show. Publicity of a product can make and break the image of the product; for whatever the consumer reads and sees on TV thinks it to be authentic to its core. Thus, a bad publicity can ruin the image of the product altogether (Kwanash-Aidoo, 2005; Baerns, 2003; Mickey, 1997). Therefore, it can be analyzed that commercial media has the power to shape the mind sets of individuals to the extent where they can believe in certain things and abandon beliefs as well. The commercial media have evolved over the last decade. With the emergence of new technology the ideas of communication has been shaped in to varied ways that gauge the attention of the audience and the media providers. This has diverted the attention of the media developers to the newly innovated ways of communication to tools such as the internet and mobile media. Many advertising agencies have invested large sums of money in ambient media. UK industry forecasts that the ambient media are so effective that its growing rapidly, in the near future the cost for ambient media will be in millions of pounds; moreover the literature suggests that the traditional media such as TV, posters, Cinema, and radio is substantially being replaced with the ‘non-traditional out-of-home’ media which is collectively referred to as the ambient media (Hiebert, 2001; Shankar & Horton, 1999). It is essential to high light that due to non-availability of business models in media many of the factors in advertising remain unattended and hap-hazard. For these reasons media tries to publish a story in order to sell well. This lack of media business models only make the media focus upon the idea to stay in to business; thus, due to which reasons many times the ethics in commercial media in terms of the authenticity of they write and show on TV is compromised (Hendricks, 2010). Nevertheless, bearing in mind the influence that can have upon the individuals it is important to demarcate and recognize the distinguishing factors that draw the line for ethical and unethical representation of the data. There is considerable literature available in regards to the commercial media that entails the ethics of media. However, these ethics vary according to the culture and beliefs of the individuals. While advertising a product it is important to ethically advertise it that is to give out true information that does not hurt the beliefs of the consumer in any way. These ethics become an important part of commercial media and advertising to the extent where if the ad back fires it can bring a bad image to the company and product. One such example is of Nokia; Nokia had advertised for its Lumia 920 for producing images that had perfection. It emphasized heavily on the PureView camera technology. However, a report revealed that the images and the videos used in the ad as a sample for the consumer, turned out to be fake. An investigation in to the case revealed that the still images and videos were not taken from the Lumia 920 Camera (Chang, 2012). Before I move any further in presenting my opinion it is important to be clear upon the definition of ethics in the field of advertising and marketing while developing content. Advertizing ethics define principles that form the bases of the content of ad; or the way a certain product or a service is communicated to its targeted audience. Ethics in advertizing is an important feature of advertizing industry. It is important to be aware of the essence of advertising; therefore, advertising can be defined as a paid form of non-personal promotion of products in order to inform the targeted audience about the existence of the idea in the market. There none of the business in the world can exist without advertising; although, the form and type of advertising varies from one business to another (Puranik, 2012; Garrett, 1961). Unethical Communication Advertising and marketing play a significant role in developing an image for the product. Moreover, it generates enthusiasm among the viewers to consume the product. Like the company has an image to maintain so does the consumer. Just like a company markets its product setting standards for it similarly a consumer set standards, as well. Marketers introduce a product, to fulfill the existent need in the market; similarly, the consumers buy a product to satisfy that particular need. This implies that if the product is advertised in an unethical way it may not be acceptable in the market altogether. Therefore while, marketing and advertising a product, it is important to follow the laid down ethics of presenting the product, through media, to its consumer. If the consumer feels that the promised benefits are not existent, in the purchased product, then the consumer will not continue to use the product. Thus, it can be said marketing and advertising is a continuous dialogue between consumer and the buyer (Egyankosh, 2011; Hackley & Kitchen, 1999; Hackley C. , 1999). Furthermore, advertising is used as a tool to generate sales and persuade the consumer to buy a product; whereas, on the other hand, it is viewed as an unnecessary cost to the business. Weighing the pros and cons of adverting is never ending when it comes to deciding whether the use of advertising should be availed or not. However, what is important is to be aware of the ethical values that need to be followed while communicating a certain product to the consumer. Many ads require a remake when the product is about to be launched in to an entirely new culture. One such example is of Axe ads, the initial campaign for Axe ads was mostly based on the sexist view point, where the ad showed girls passing flirty signals to the man who is wearing Axe deodorant. This kind of communication involves expenditure in the long-run, which means that not all the cultures would appreciate the content. Thus, in order to tone down, the company will have to re-make the ad giving out the same signal, but in a subtle manner: that is giving out subliminal messages. However, the new axe ads have changed their communication; where the product is showed to boost the confidence level of the user while he thinks of approaching a girl he could previously never talk to. Fig: 1.1 (Word Press, 2011) Fig: 1.2 (Word Press, 2011) As per fig 1.1 and 1.2 the Axe ad is communicating a subliminal message. These ads may be applicable to the type of culture; however, such adverts, in other cultures like Turkey, China, and UK etc may not be acceptable as it exhumes the sexist image of the product. Automatically, the consumer with set values will not consume the product; for culture has set limits for such communication and some cultures still believe in such things to be a symbol of shame. Therefore, neither is the ad applicable in to other cultures nor does it follow the ethical code. For such ads can hurt the feelings of certain viewers, may be a woman can get offended for continuously portrayed as a symbol of sex (Word Press, 2011). Thus, as per the South Africa’s Advertising Standards Authority the commercials that Axe made were consider to be obscene and many Christians got offended with the content of the ad; where the barely attired female angels fall from the sky attracted to the man who is showed wearing the Axe deodorant. Fig: 1.3 (Schillaci, 2011) One angry complainant expressed, that the concept of an angel falling from the sky is not offending; instead, the fact that an angel is giving up its heavenly status for worldly desires by smashing her halos on the ground. For this purpose, the Axe ads were banned in South Africa for hurting the Christian beliefs (Schillaci, 2011). Fig: 1.4 (Cardiff, 2011) Marc Jacobs namesakes collection is aimed at young women whereas, the perfumes such as Lola and Daisy target even younger population. His campaigns aim at teenagers; most of his ads star young models, especially teenagers. Nevertheless, fig: 1.4 portrays an ad that is banned in UK for content of the ad was highly sexual. It is banned on the bases, that the ad is aimed at young women, who are still in the process to develop a mindset; therefore, according to the authorities the ad seemed to be promoting sexist approach. As a result, the ad is banned for unethical promotion (Cardiff, 2011; Gould, 1994). Fig: 2.0 (Cardiff, 2012) Fig: 2.0, is a Dior ad that was banned in UK because the ad failed to satisfy the Advertising Standards of Authority banned the ad for the ad was over touched with Photoshop and the presented critique to the ad pointed out that the mascara may give volume to the lashes, but the model was wearing fake eyelashes. Thus, the ad was clearly lying to the consumer showing the picture of fake lashes on an ad in order to sell. This violated the standards of advertisements and the ad was considered unethical for it gave misleading information to its consumer (Cardiff, 2012). Importance of Ethical Ads Nevertheless, the Advertising Standard Authority of UK has set standards for making an ad that is ethical yet appealing and sells the product as well without letting the content of the ad being cheap. While still researching for the topic, the question that kept probing my mind was why ethical communication is so necessary. However, further research in to the topic revealed the importance of ethical communication while making ads; whether print or TV commercials. Ethical advertisements increased the customer satisfaction levels and contributed in earning the customer trust (Robert, 2003). However, those ads that show unethical contents in them may deteriorate the image of the product being advertised along with dissatisfying the customers. Like the Dior mascara ad in fig: 2.0, promises to give volume to the lashes the way shown in the advertisement. However, the customer will be dissatisfied for the reason that the product will fail to give the exact results showed in the advertisement. Moreover, an ethical ad will add value to the brand, where the customer will value the product. Nevertheless, on the other hand, if the ad is unethical the company will have to face economic damage, in terms of the cost; involved in manufacturing the product along with the cost incurred in making an ad; that failed to fetch the expected sales (International Chamber of Commerce and INSEAD, 2011). Furthermore, some ads that are unethical in nature give out subliminal messages such as the ad of Burger King. Ads of these sorts do not promote and make the message oblivious; instead they encode the ads with word play. The three posters and the internet commercials of Burger King attracted complaints for using foul language in the advertisement. The phrases to be foul were pointed: King Tasty, King delicious and King great. Many of the complaints highlighted the word King has been played with the foul word. They expressed that the ads will leave a poor impression on the children. However, Burger King apologized to the complainants for the offense, but countered the compliant by telling the authority that it was to promote their three new burgers that were named after the restaurant that is the ‘king’ word was derived from the name of the restaurant Burger King. Thus, the authorities cleared the ad for the commercial; since, there was no oblivious content that could manipulate the audience in anyway. Nevertheless, this implies that the ethical ad is also dependent upon how appropriately the communication is done along with setting the message across without being penalized for the act. However, it was highlighted that children were not able to associate the burger with foul language. In such cases, there is no fear of losing the customer or disgusting its target audience (Metro, 2012). However, research reveals that certain ads that disgust its consumers fail to do good on the market. Therefore, it can be said that recall of the ad that disgusted the consumer is less than those ads that do not disgust the consumer. A study was carried out in Belgium where a sample of 244 Belgians was taken to measure the results. Thus, the results revealed that sample across the demographic segment showed the same results. Those ads that disgusted were hardly recalled. Thus, such ads that fail to communicate adds to the cost of the company; that is the company technically invests in the ad in order to be recalled; and if the consumer is disgusted or angered with content he or she will not recall the ad. This will destroy the purpose of advertising altogether (Densa, Pelsmackera, & Janssensb, 2008; Krizan, Merrier, Logan, & Williams, 2007). Ethics: Illusion or Reality Reality It is imperative to mention here the advertisements are not just a communication that informs the consumer about the product, it is about the way a product is presented the consumer can relate to the product and later buy the product too. For this purpose, related marketing becomes appropriate; a survey revealed that 80% of Americans said that they feel better in associating with companies that relate to issues in the society (Moore, 2004). However, there beer cans that are advertised, but the commercials do not show the cast drinking it. The question that persists here is that do these adverts become ethical by showing a beer can, but not drinking it? Many policies ban the adverts that try to commercialize the use of hard liquor; nevertheless they turn a blind eye to beer cans that possess the equal amount of liquor present in Jack Daniels shot. Thus, the point persists here that it is the name that gives the product an image; that makes the product and the advisement ethical in the eyes of the public and the authorities alike. Many other products that could be related to the prohibited or banned areas to promote products such as condom, contraceptive pills, and pharmaceutical ads are usually promoted by giving it an entirely different theme (Moore, 2004). Many a times it is argued that ads and commercials cannot always be ethical. In support to the statement it is also mentioned that an advertiser is not suppose to help the individuals shape their character, these responsibilities fall upon the shoulders of the preachers and the philosophers to do so. For individuals who have such mind sets, they believe that an advertisers job is to inform people about the product, thus, it entirely depends upon the advertiser how they advertise and communicate the product to its audience. What left me thinking after reading this view point, I was of the opinion that if the ads cannot be wholly ethical than partially ethical ads do curb the problem to quite an extent. All the barriers do not require elimination for the sake certain unethical existences in the field (Kempler, 2004). Illusion Nevertheless, we have discussed one type of media that is mentioned above. Confusing commercial media with advertisement and basing ones opinion upon it will be irrational. Therefore, it is important to know that media has different forms such as adverts are different than journalism. One is the promotion of the product and the other that is journalism has many other forms from informing the consumer about the News and entertainment to being used as a tool for adverts (Baerns, 2003). Often it is argued that the adverts provide a mirror image of the motivations that in reality exist in the consumer’s life however, it is ignored many times the reality that the concept of providing a mirror image of the motivations of a consumer’s life has come in to existence now the products were previously traded as well without breaking the ethics (Mick & Buhl, 1986). Like previously, mentioned that there is no right or wrong answer to it, however, I believe that advertisements can be ethical and still sell in the market. There are many ads that make the viewer sad, happy, angry, and nostalgic. Thus, keeping in mind, that the ads influence the viewer, it becomes necessary not to exhibit certain elements that can provoke strong feelings. It is undeniable that the image of the product altogether will suffer. Therefore, while developing the content for the ads it is necessary to make sure that the religious and social beliefs are not being disturbed. It must also consider that none of the parts of the ad in any way discriminate in terms of religion, gender, color and cast. Moreover, the content must be developed keeping in mind that it does not depict any immoral behavior that may influence the children negatively. Furthermore, the while developing ads for competitive advertising, the content must be fair that is it must not degrade the opponent company while highlighting its own product. If the mentioned codes of advertising are considered and implemented then the commercial media can be ethical to a great extent (International Chamber of Commerce and INSEAD, 2011; Blocher, 2008; Shankar, Advertising’s imbroglio, 1999). I would like mention that the commercial media can be ethical. Only if the media follows the standards set up by the Advertising Standard Authority. These standards help in developing the ad content; that does not hurt the feelings of the consumer in anyway. 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