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Advertising Ethics: Not an Oxymoron
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17190 |
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Section : |
MODERN THOUGHT
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| Issue
Date : |
12 / 1990 |
4,615 Words |
| Author
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Michael R. Hyman
Michael R. Hyman is associate professor of marketing at the
University of North Texas. His current interests include
foundations research and philosophical analyses in marketing. |
Why are many social critics ad bashers? Perhaps they find ads for feminine hygiene products and condoms repulsive and cigarette ads targeted solely at young women and Afro-Americans immoral. Perhaps they believe that ads with psychological appeals hold a viewer hostage to his or her darkest urges and that ads corrupt society's values. Perhaps they think that industry wastes tens of billions of dollars on ads that emphasize trivial differences between brands. Perhaps they believe that ads invite irrational buying decisions.
Clearly, some ads affect some people negatively. Teenagers see ads for Nike's $150 Air Jordans: As a result, some will earn shoe money at low-paying after-school jobs rather than earn good grades; others will acquire shoes by theft or murder. Young women might be enticed to begin smoking after viewing ads for Dakotas, a newly proposed brand of cigarettes fro which an advertising campaign was targeted to "young, uneducated white women, ages 18 to 24, [the type] who enjoys Roseanne and attending tractor-pulls with her boyfriend," (according to in-house R.J. Reynolds research).
Just as clearly, some ads affect some people positively. What about the ad that convinces a father to buy life insurance several days before his accidental death? What about the ads for Los Angeles' new rail system that convince commuters to ride environmentally sound mass transit rather than drive air-polluting cars on congested roadways?
Unfortunately, our emotional, example-laden arguments for and against advertising blind us to the real dilemma: deciding about the borderline cases. For example, are those condom manufacturers who opt not to advertise condoms to gays guilty of negligent homicide? Should we allow ads for radar detectors? Radar detectors are legal, but they can help people break the law. Because they distract drivers and encourage speeding, they may contribute to injury and death in auto accidents.
What are Ads?
Advertisements are "any paid form of nonpersonal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor.” Ads can promote the goods and services of for-profit and nonprofit organizations. Ads can stimulate the demand for a particular brand (Minute Maid orange juice) or for a product class (Florida orange juice), establish a corporate identity (Beatrice Foods), and advocate a position on an issue of public importance (dependence on foreign oil is bad). Thus, ads can influence the demand for
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