D M S Lalitha Kala Maha Samstana(Affiliated to Karnataka Open University Mysore)

A Synopsis on “Ethics and Truth in Advertising”

Submitted by

M B Chandra Shekhar

Under the guidance ofGuide

Sri Jayaraj Chikpatil MFA, M.Phil.

Dean

Prof V B Hiregoudar

2011-12

Table of content

1. Statement of Research 01

2. Introduction 02

3. Need for the study 03

4. Objectives of the study 04

5. Definition of Advertisement 05

6. History of Advertising 06

7. Importance of Advertising 07

8. Ethics in Advertising 08

9. Truth in Advertising 09

10. Legal Aspects of Advertising 11

11. Conclusion 12

Statement of Research

Research Proposal

“A Study on whether there are Ethics and Truth in Advertising”

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Introduction

Ethics and Truth are closely interlinked concepts and therefore it is essential to analyze them in detail separately.

Ethics is a set of moral principles, norms or values. It is a branch of social science dealing with ‘good’ and ‘bad’ and hence moral duties and responsibilities of an individual as a social and rational animal. In other words, ethics is concerned with those values that determine the moral conduct in a given group or community. ‘Moral’ principles are the rules or the standards of what is ‘wrong’ or ‘right’. Therefore morality deals with right or wrong conduct. Here the word ‘Morality’ is comprehensive than the term ‘ethics’ because moral values include ethical values but opposite is not true. It is true that one which is right is always good and one which is wrong is always bad. For example: fooling others is wrong and therefore bad being honest is right and therefore good.

Truly speaking, it is not easy to define the term ‘truth’ as it is not easy to define the term ‘truth’ as it is the most elusive one. The more we try to get to it, the more it becomes a mirage right from the time immemorial, the entire world is in search of truth; yet no one knows about its nature and its whereabouts; It is the greatest philosophical controversy. Then what is truth?

Then what is the relationship between advertising and these terms namely, ethics and morality? It is established fact that advertising is psychological social and business process of persuading the people to buy products or services. The test of its success is that it results in increased sales and increased share in the market and profits. Advertising gets aggressive and acrimonious due to ever increasing competition; so each advertiser wants to excel his rival in techniques of spending on advertising. In the process of acute and cut-throat competition, there are chances of discounting truth to succeed in the art of making multiplied sales and profits. However advertiser has the social and moral obligation towards the consumers because it is the consumer who pay to the last rupee of advertising expenditure. That is why, it has to be right so that it is good. Good advertisement does not mean both effective and honest. It means that right advertisement is good advertisement. A right advertisement is one which is just and true. It is proper and appropriate.

2

Need for the study

As the student of Applied Art and the professional who are in advertising field it makes us mandatory to know the extent of truth and ethics in advertising. Truth and Ethics in advertising makes one sober in dealing with the client, customers and those who are influenced by advertising without affecting his business.

The Legal aspects of advertising also upholds the truth and ethics in advertising. With these highlights the consumer, retailer, producer, company, industry collectively everyone has to know the truth and ethics in advertising since everybody are influenced by the advertising from different media to procure the products which he uses daily to satisfy his needs. Since everybody has the moral and social responsibility, he cannot afford to be dishonest and this demands everyone to know the truth and ethics in Advertising.

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Objectives for the study

It is commercial honesty that prevails than the absolute honesty. One need to know the difference between the two to avoid the confusion within and the society inlarge.

• To study the Truth and Ethics in its absolute and commercial aspects in advertising.

• To develop the sense of commercial honesty and absolute honesty to avoid conflict within oneself.

• Influence of Truth and Ethics on the Economic Health of our country.

• The study of legal responsibility which upholds the judicial truth which is another side of the coin of morality.

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Definition of Advertisement

N H Borden, writing in the Economic Effects of Advertising defines advertising thus: “Advertising includes those activities by which visual or oral messages are addressed to the public for the purposes of informing them and influencing them either to buy merchandise or services or to act, or be inclined, favourably towards ideas, institutions or persons featured. As contrasted with publicity and other forms of propaganda, advertising messages are identified with the advertiser either by signature or by oral statement. In further contract to publicity, advertising is a commercial transaction involving payment to publishers or broad casters and others whose media are employed.”

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History of Advertising

Though advertising in its present form, is the product of the current century, as a business force it is not a new tool. It has the longest history taking us back to the history of mankind and human civilization. Though we fail to answer the question as to the exact age of advertising, it can be said that advertising began the moment the man discovered the art of communication. Historical documents and Archaeological researcher have confirmed the existence of advertising in the ancient times. Advertising by ‘word’ of mouth is probably the earliest form of advertising because oral skills were developed well before reading and writing did. Advertising was given the commercial status the day the man entered into the process of exchange.

The colourful history of advertising can be divided into six-clear cut periods consisting of centuries of growth and development. There are 1. Ancient Times 2. 5th to 8th century3. 9th to 15th century 4. 16th to 17th century 5. 18th to 19th century 6. 20th century

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Importance of Advertising

Commercial ImportanceAdvertising being sponsored messages, the manufactures and traders have to live up to the claims made by them and hence the same result in commercial innovations and continuous improvements in quality.

Economic ImportanceAdvertising helps to increase the demands of products and consequent sale of larger quantities which stimulate economics of production. This tends to reduce the cost of a product per unit, the advantage of which ultimately goes to the public at large in the form of lower prices. Similarly, the advertising revenue subsidizes the price of a news paper and helps to bring in better sponsored television and radio programmes, for the benefit of people

Social ImportanceGovernement Departments, Public Sector Organisations and school institutions are able to reach the people only through advertising for popularization of health care measures, family planning, smoking hazards, elimination of drug abuses, admission to educational courses, employment, etc.

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Ethics in Advertising

Ethics is a set of moral principles, norms or values. It is a branch of social science dealing with ‘good’ and ‘bad’ and hence moral duties and responsibilities of an individual as a social and rational animal. In other words, ethics is concerned with those values that determine the moral conduct in a given group or community. ‘Moral’ principles are the rules or the standards of what is ‘wrong’ or ‘right’. Therefore morality deals with right or wrong conduct. Here the word ‘Morality’ is comprehensive than the term ‘ethics’ because moral values include ethical values but opposite is not true. It is true that one which is right is always good and one which is wrong is always bad. For example: fooling others is wrong and therefore bad being honest is right and therefore good.

Ethics Defined“The set of rules, principles and beliefs about right and wrong, good and bad, justice and injustice, duty and obligation which governs people’s behavior, or which they believe ought to govern their behavior.”

Then what is the relationship between advertising and these terms namely, ethics and morality? It is established fact that advertising is psychological social and business process of persuading the people to buy products or services. The test of its success is that it results in increased sales and increased share in the market and profits. Advertising gets aggressive and acrimonious due to ever increasing competition; so each advertiser wants to excel his rival in techniques of spending on advertising. In the process of acute and cut-throat competition, there are chances of discounting truth to succeed in the art of making multiplied sales and profits. However advertiser has the social and moral obligation towards the consumers because it is the consumer who pay to the last rupee of advertising expenditure. That is why, it has to be right so that it is good. Good advertisement does not mean both effective and honest. It means that right advertisement is good advertisement. A right advertisement is one which is just and true. It is proper and appropriate.

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Truth in Advertising

Truly speaking it is not easy to define the term ‘truth’ as it is the most elusive one. The more we try to go near to it, the more it becomes a mirage. Right from the time immemorial, the entire world is in search of truth; yet no one knows about its nature and its whereabouts. Then what is truth? For an ordinary man truth means facts; The events that have happened or taken place over a period of time. This common man’s truth is same as Judicial truth. Judicial truth is the content of the swear taken by each entering the witness-box in the court of law. It runs as: The whole truth and nothing but truth. Here truth means all the facts and nothing but truth means no mixing of lies with the facts.

‘Truth’ is vital to the sound economic health of advertising industry. The effectiveness of advertising, as a tool of promotion, vanishes if the people begin to believe that advertisements are false or wisely designed to fool them. No advertiser can fool all the consumers of all the time. Unfortunately, the credibility of advertising has been under criticism for decades. They are of the opinion that social stature and image of advertising would improve if advertisement were not truthful. The image is not really one of trust and appreciable because of five reason pointed out by professor E J Kottman.

1. Not all the advertisements are truthful advertising image because human being is a generalizing animal goes straight to the general from a particular case.

2. Most persons – Intellectuals and critics alike do not make difference between factual statements and value judgments.

3. The meanings which people ascribe to advertisements are frequently different from those stated or implied. In other words, people infer notions or formulate their own propositions that are untrue or unbelievable and conclude that it is the advertising that is untrue.

4. Each advertisement appears to be full of contradictions, either stated implied or inferred. Thus each producer says his product is the best. In fact, it can not be. This makes the consumers to take them at discount.

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5. Much of the advertisement fanfare about the trivial, particularly of all products or nation-wide scale such as soft drinks, cosmetics, soaps, drugs etc. It attempts to make the insignificant seem significant, and is no doing, earns for advertising a kind of pseudo image.

For an average man, truth means facts; the events that have happened or taken place over a period of time. It is same as Judicial truth. This Judicial truth is not applicable to the world of advertising. That is why no advertisement gives the total picture of the product or service. It presents only the brighter side concealing the defects. It is commercial honesty that prevails than the absolute honesty. The different forms of this commercial honesty are1. Facts exaggerated2. Facts perverted3. Total lies

Since the advertiser has the moral and social responsibility, he cannot afford to be dishonest. The main reasons for this are1. That his reputation is at stake2. That he cannot take undue advantage of truth and faith put in him by the society3. He has legal responsibility which is another side of the coin of morality4. That the consumers are getting organized5. That truth never fails, but it prevails

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Legal aspects of creative advertising

The Sachar commission which was appointed by the Government of India for the purpose of revising the companies act and the MRTP Act had said in its report. “The objection taken is not to the advertisement of the product which it may be necessary to do in order to acquaint the public with the articles. What is, however, insisted on is that there is an obligation on the seller, namely, that if he advertises, he must speak the truth.” The commission had named, in its report, many sales promotion methods which were found to be deceptive. The commission had recommended in its report that the following acts of sellers should be declared as untraded practices:

(a) Misleading advertisements and false representation a seller should not represent falsely that the goods are of a particular standard, quality, grade, composition, style or model, and that the re-built, second hand goods are new goods.

(b) Offering of gifts or prizes with the intention of not providing them and conducting promotional contests.

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Conclusion - Are there ethics and the truth in advertising

Ethics and truth which are closely interlinked concepts. Ethics which is a branch of social science which deals with what is good and bad and hence moral values and responsibilities of an individual and a society has to be uphold. Speaking from this angle, advertiser has moral responsibility that it is good. Good advertisement does not mean effective but one which is right. Right advertisement is one which is just the true, proper and appropriate.

For a common man, truth implies facts – the events that have taken place over a period of time which is same as Judicial Truth. This Judicial Truth is not applicable to the world of advertising. That is why no advertisement gives the total picture of the product or service. It presents only the brighter side concealing the defects. It is commercial honesty that prevails than the absolute honesty. Since the advertiser has the moral and social responsibility, he cannot afford to be dishonest where in his and the company reputation will be at stake.By taking a small steps of knowing the importance of truth and ethics he will be in advantage over others who does not know about the differences between these terminologies and how to follow it. The person follows the rule of the land by following the legal procedures which is enforced on us as legal responsibility which is another side of the coin is morality. By this different aspects we come to know the real truth that never fails, but it prevails

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