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EFFORTS BY:ABEYSON JOSEMOHIT PUROHITMD. IRSHADPUSHPENDER SINGH

EthicsEthics is a branch of philosophy which seeks to address questions about morality; that is, about concepts such as good and bad, right and wrong, justice, and virtue.

Advertising

Advertising is the promotion of a company’s products and services carried out primarily to drive sales of the products and services but also to build a brand identity and communicate changes or new product /services to the customers. Advertising has become an essential element of the corporate world and hence the companies allot a considerable amount of revenues as their advertising budget.

Reasons for Advertising

• Increasing the sales of the product/service

• Creating and maintaining a brand identity or brand image.

• Communicating a change in the existing product line.

• Introduction of a new product or service.

• Increasing the buzz-value of the brand or the company

Unethical advertising

Advertisement is considered unethical in the following situations;When it has degraded or underestimated the substitute or rival's product. When it gives false or misleading information on the value of the product. When it fails to give useful information on the possible reaction or side effects of the product. And When it is immoral.

Basic principles

• Decency • Honesty • Social Responsibility • Truthful presentation • Comparisons• Imitation• Safety and health • Avoidance of Harm• Environmental behaviour

Ways of unethical advertisement

• Surrogate advertisement• Puffery• Exaggeration• Unverified claims• Women stereotyping• Women used as sex symbols for promoting

products• Comparative advertisements• Use of children in advertising

Surrogate advertisingSurrogate advertising is prominently

seen in cases where advertising a particular product is banned

by law. Advertisement for products like cigarettes or

alcohol which are injurious to heath are prohibited by law in

several countries and hence these companies have to come

up with several other products that might have the same brand name and

indirectly remind people of the cigarettes or beer bottles of the same brand Common examples include Fosters and Kingfisher

beer brands, which are often seen to promote their brand with the help

of surrogate advertising.

Puffery

• Puffery as a legal term refers to promotional statements and claims that express subjective rather than objective views, such that no reasonable person would take literally. A two-year old might believe that polar bears enjoy sipping Coca-Cola. But we know better.

EXAGGERATION

• Using false claims in the advertisements about the product.• For example:-Ghari detergent - “Pehle Istemaal kare phir

vishvaas kare.”, Tide detergent – “White ho to Tide ho.”, Vodafone Essar – “Wherever you go our network follows.”

White ho to

Tide ho.

One Drop Challenge Wherever you go our network follows.

Unverified Claims

• It includes advertisements of “energy drinks” which tells us about the number of vitamins and how they help children to grow strong and tall.

• There is no way of verifying these false claims.• For example:-Horlicks, Maltova, Tiger biscuits.

WOMEN IN ADVERTISING

Women stereotyping

Women are generally associated with household works and is not supposed to be a good decision maker which contributes to women stereotyping .

Women shown as doing domestic work which reflects stereotype image of women.

Women in advertising used as sex symbols

Unhealthy Brand comparisons

• Nowadays advertisers are engaged in unhealthy brand comparison with the help of advertising. Such comparisons create problems and confusions for the right choice of the product as far as audience are concerned.

• Example can be cited of colgate and pepsodent toothpaste.

Colgate Vs Pepsodent

Complan Vs Horlicks

Coca cola Vs Pepsi

Children in advertising

• Children are easily persuaded and have a large pull on today's markets, as is known by all advertisers, even ones who do not intend for their products to be consumed by children.

Children and adolescents as target groups

The children’s market where resistance to advertisingis weakest is the “pioneerfor ad creep”.” Kids are

among the most sophisticated observers of ads. They can sing the jingles and identify

the logos, and they often have strong feelings about products.

What they generally don't understand, however, are the

issues thatunderlie how advertising works.

Amul macho

Axe dark temptation

Vulgar Advertisements banned by I & B Ministry :-

Newspaper ads

A wine bottle that is considered ethically wrong because the lorry may have to move to certain places where drinking is unethical