Ethical Concerns Around Advertising

Unethical advertising: What are ethics?

Every individual has a set of ethics that they comply with, which establish the application of values, principles and operate a comprehensible and consistent understanding of an ethical regulatory structure.

In the realm of marketing and advertising, many advertising professionals have adopted philosophical relativism as the framework for central ethical marketing concepts.

We understand that relativism is the notion that all perceptions hold a purely subjective role.  Therefore, philosophical relativism in the context of ethics means that no ethical structure will reach an absolute truth, and that because of differences in culture, background, education and socio-economic grounds, ethics frameworks will always be completely subjective.

Ethics are established and maintained at a rate and standard which is directly influenced by the integrity of researchers of market fairness and the decision makers in regulatory bodies.

Many professionals and academics, such as Ferrell and Weaver (1978) and Safady (1973) have offered their commentary on the practicability of establishing ethical frameworks in private advertising companies, market research companies and advertising agencies, in the Media and in government.

Unethical advertising

 

In the Western world, many conflicts between ethical/moral and social/economic values have arisen over time. This has meant the ethical frameworks guiding advertising and marketing professionals have been somewhat jilted and altered over the course of many global changes.

 

Differences in ethics over time.

 

Arruda (1986) supports this claim, contending that these changes have then left practitioners disorientated in the correct establishment of dynamic and differentiated campaigns and in their professional conduct.

 

As I have explored the function of ethics in a regulatory structure engaged in the advertising world, I have realised the many intersections these frameworks have with governance, politics and the law. Saunders and Komesaroff studied the philosophical connection between natural and state law and ethics.
Saunders and Komesaroff suggested that:
“the law should focus on the settings in which individuals engage in ethical decision making and seek to ensure that it is open and free from coercion and that adequate information is provided to allow individuals to make their own decisions after full and careful reflection.”

An individual’s commitment to an ethical code is essential to the code’s identity, position and power in society. Ethics are not usually regarded as controllable by “enforcement or regulation” as their identity is separate from that of the law.  Regulatory bodies or “enforcement mechanism[s]” might be assumed to obscure the entire nature of ethical codes. But, then the following questions arise in the public sphere: If we have ethics, how do we make sure we abide by them? Or, do we in fact abide by them? And, who do we trust ?

In their Journal of Business Ethics in 1999 and in the crystallisation of Arruda’s thoughts on ethical advertising in 1986, Maria Cecilia Coutinho de Arruda explored the philosophical tactic of realism.

For an approach to reflect realism, the intelligence of the individuals concerned must be rooted in the understanding of truth to avoid the bias associated with relativism. That is, the will of the individual must be led to the ‘good’ or truth, so that the individual can reach an objective view of values without allowing bias from their personality colouring their interpretation of ethics and thus moving them from objective to subjective.

Taking a step in the area of superficiality which many would argue leads the way in modern advertising environments; many marketing practitioners have assumed philosophical relativism as the framework for their key professional concepts.

In 1969, Luck explored the concept that “frivolity” established and directly influenced the explicit codes that provided the guiding framework to advertising professionals’ behaviour.

 

Unethical professional practice

 

Professionals began to establish this framework as a beginning point for resolving all moral dilemmas, which were found to be outside the norm of reality, in order to attempt to establish what is right and wrong. This is heavily influenced, however, by each individual’s reading and analysis of the dilemma, by their own value system.  This means the resolution can differ dramatically between professionals, relinquishing the power of objectivity to subjective analysis, which is where our problem in ethical advertising really begins.

McDonald recognises that due to this differentiation in professional judgement, ethics can be “expressed in widely shared principles”, but that the actual “perfect justification” or resolution may not be always aligned.

“The ethical perspective urged here is to treat the use of ethics in public policy as a way of judiciously balancing or weighing relevant considerations—considerations usually identified by principles in common use. The objective, of course, is to make good ‘all things considered’ moral judgement that can be used to ground and formulate public policy,” said McDonald.

Ethics can apprise and validate the foundation of a regulatory body and structure and assist in its promotion by guiding individual and professional corporations’ decisions, and the maintain the acceptance and compliance of these bodies under the regulations of the structure.

Many advertising campaigns for products, services and ideas may lack the conceptual knowledge of ethics and the role their play in the formation and guidance of societal appropriateness.

We can all think of an unethical advertisement, or an ad gone wrong, which either completely misjudges society’s ethics and sense of right and wrong, or puts forward a key moral dilemma to be argued by active viewers/ listeners.

Unethical advertising in the form of racism.

In many developed countries, unethical advertising practice has been aborted and even banned and regulated by the introduction of rules in state law. There have been many advertising bodies who have started trends like this for other marketing bodies to promote improved ethical social responsibility.

ADMA Code of Practice

Australian Advertising and Selling Guide

ADMA Code Authority Annual Review

References:

Waller, D 2002, ‘Advertising agency-client attitudes towards ethical issues in political advertising’, Journal of Business Ethics, October, Issue 4, pp. 1 – 9.

Martin, C 1994, ‘Ethical advertising research standards: Three case studies’, Journal of Advertising, September, Issue 3, pp. 1 – 8.

de Arruda, de Arruda, M 1999, ‘Ethical standards in advertising: A worldwide perspective’, Journal of Business Ethics, April, Issue 2, pp. 1 – 2, 6 – 7.

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