"Thus ethics in advertising means a set of well defined principles which govern the ways of communication taking place between the seller and the buyer." (http://www.managementstudyguide.com/advertising-ethics.htm).At first, one might not think that advertisements are not truthful and only deceive the public to persuade them to buy their products, and they wouldn't be wrong. There are many ads. that are deceiving. From the definition in the quote above, ethics and advertising seem to come hand in hand in the advertising industry. Therefore, the people that work in the industry are likely to spend a great deal of their job making ethical choices. According to our textbook Advertising by Design (http://digitalbookshelf.artinstitutes.edu/#/books/9781118038505/pages/48991016), not only does ethics and advertising goes together, but there is responsibility involved as well. The responsibility to us, the public. Companies are in the end responsible for they tell consumers through advertisements.
Three clear principles were listed as well:
"Treat the audience with respect; respect people's religion, race, gender, age, and ethnicity. Be truthful. Be responsible."Even as having the obvious existence of rules that should be followed for ads to be considered ethical, some don't follow that path. An article by CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2008/BUSINESS/07/08/jwt.answer/), there were three defined aspects of the advertisement industry that can be questioned on the ethics shown. The first one was how consumers are seduced into buying products, something that is well seen in ads these days. They did pointed out that consumers expect be shown the truth from companies through ads than before, and treated as intelligent decision-makers.
An example of a questionable advertisement would be the political campaigns we Americans are bombarded with during the elections. Now these type of ads. are all very typical, a politician will more than likely point out the weaknesses of his opponent and show his strong points to look even better to voters. A specific ad. from President Obama's campaign against opponent Mitt Romney gained the attention of CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/08/politics/campaign-distortions). The ad that is being put on the spot focuses on a Obama supporter that explains that when he Mitt Romney closed the plant he worked in, he lost his job and his health care. That meant his family lost that coverage did as well. Then his wife got sick and died of cancer. Now, seeing this ad. within itself tells a tragic story that seems to put the blame to the Romney. Voters are 'seduced' and manipulated into thinking that the candidate is inadequate to become president. As someone who will cause nothing but harm. Yet research showed that the ad. had told the public a different story that was far from the accurate. Yes, the wife was diagnosed with cancer and unfortunately did pass away. What wasn't explained was that even if Mitt Romney was CEO of the plant at the time, but he wasn't overlooking the business. He formally left the plant later on. This is just one ad. out of many that is seen very often in campaigns. Its so popular because people have come to believe them, basing their opinions on them.
Sources:
http://digitalbookshelf.artinstitutes.edu/#/books/9781118038505/pages/48991016
http://www.aef.com/on_campus/classroom/speaker_pres/data/3001
http://www.managementstudyguide.com/advertising-ethics.htm
http://www.cnn.com/2008/BUSINESS/07/08/jwt.answer/
http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/08/politics/campaign-distortions
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