49, Quality Consctousness: Concern for quality of a product, process, orevenllfe, work, education and, investment etc, is promoted through advertisements. 10, Promotion of National Interest: National interest ls promoted through advertisements as well, Complying with tax laws, complimenting export achievement, promotion of tourism, advertisements, ection of monuments, creating political awareness of citizens, ete., are pursued through 182. Ethics in Advertising Advertising has ethical value, In today's -ompetitive and buyer's market, advertisements must be truthful and ethical, Ifan advertisement is misleading, the credibility of the organization is lost. The advertising criticized for putting out misleading or exaggerated claims in respect of product, goods and services advertised, However, it is very difficult to demarcate a clear line of difference between what is true and ‘vhat is untrue, The product must fulfil its advertised claims. Advertisements should be decent and not beobscene, It must be truthful. Sometimes, celebrities endorsing the product and spreading falsehood Isalso criticized. Bihics means “Good Conduct” or “Conduct which is right in view of the society and the time period’, we can say that Ethics are moral principles and values that govern the actions and decisions of an individual group. Ethics is a choice between good and bad, between right and wrong. It is governed by aset of principles of morality at a given time and at a given place and in a given society. Bthics covers various aspects. These range from the truthfulness of validity of claims to the mode of presentation of the advertisement. The advertising, of products like cigarettes, alcohol and other injurious materials must be dealt carefully, Advertising should: () Be truthful: It should reveal the true and significant facts, (i) Be substantiated: The claims should be should substantiated with proofs (iii) Be non-comparative: It should not compare the products of two different manufacturers. (iv) Give real and true guarantees (v) Avoid false claims: (vi) Adhere to taste and decency: ication, plays a significant role both in business as well as in the professi Ethics, asa tool of comme care accepted and upheld by the society as essential to good life Of advertising, norms of idea ng ny prxts OF VEG 0 should be followed whi eans thatthe advertises should do only good adverts 4 1 thes in advert pena ha nl We fae n9exagyetaton and noes, noni thereby honest i'r, or institution should be stated, product, service E801 eas should be advertised and that woote the right 2. "the eight prog os KS cigatetes, alcoholic products tobacco, ther eee ae Advertising harmful products voided: ang enon 3, Ads sho ae views and chole ould be restricted (0 competent Persons, who must express honest ss hones i Scanned with CamScannerAds in poor taste and offensive to public decency with double meaning tone ™ust be ay Ads should avoid attacking unfairly competitors. In sum, advertising shoulg be objective, informative and persuasive in contents. - Products should not be portrayed in a way that misleads the public to infer that the ite Some special, miraculous or a supernatural quality, which is anyways difficult to prove Any type of offensive, indecent, suggestive, vulgar, repulsive themes and/or treatment my, the avoided under all circumstances. Advertisement should not endanger the safety of children or produce any sort of interes, Prompts them to adopt or imitate unhealthy practices. Advertising receives wide exposure as it is disseminated through mass media. It has an effects what people buy and thus on their activities. It is a persuasive vehicle which has an impact on th and lifestyle of society. The impact of advertising has its negative as well as positive side. Ler. oe Various ethical issues pertaining to the advertising on society. Point of climbing Mount Everest on 28th day of climbing and lose the wn of bridge between two hills Source: hps!/yourstory.com/2016/05/young-mountaineer-mountaln- dew Picture 13.1: Puflery/Fraudulation — Mountain Dew Ad Scanned with CamScannerthical and Legal Aspects of Advertising || 151 oe —_—_____ One mountaineer took out the mountain dew and drunk and jumps to another side and able cross the valley and concord the Mount Everest. The advertisement claims that after drinking Mountain Dew a person got the courage to do risky job, which no soft drink able to do and so it is exaggerating and stating no specific facts. Another example is the advertisement about Red Bull Energy drink, which shows People are stuck in traffic jam and trying to get rid from this traffic jam. A person took out the red bull from his car and drunk and flew into the sky to get rid from traffic jam. But he found traffic jam in sky too because it’s no secret anymore. The advertisement claims that Red Bull gives you so much energy that you got a wing and able to fly, which is superlatives, or exaggerations, vaguely and generally, stating no specific facts. It affects the audience negatively in various ways, which is legally right but is unethical for the society. 2, Untruthful or Deceptive: Deceptive advertising, also known as false advertising, refers to a manufacturer's use of confusing, misleading, or blatantly untrue statements when promoting a product. False and subjective claims about the products, is sometimes believed but are untruthful and misleading. ‘The following acts are considered unfair or deceptive practices: fabu! (a) False promises, (b) Incomplete Descriptive, (c) Misleading Comparisons, (d) False Testimonials, (e) False Comparisons, tua (f) Partial Disclosures, (g) Small - Print Qualifications, (h) \ Laboratory Application. An ad released by Dabur, which claimed that Dabur Chyawanprash gave children three times more immunity and power to fight diseases, was slammed by the ASCI for making claims that are unsubstantiated. Reckitt Benckiser Healthcare India's Dettol claims, in its ad, that ‘Only Dettol gives 10x more protection against germs’ This was found to be misleading as the soap, which contains germicidal actives was Picture 13.2: _ ‘compared to products which does not have germicidal actives, _Untruthful or Deceptive The claim was not substantiated by comparing it with products which have germicidal actives. Standard Chartered Bank Ad claimed that they give “up to 10 per cent extra cashback on all spends with Standard Chartered credit card” was found to be “false and misleading by ambiguity” as the cash back was limited to 210,000 only. 3, Offensive: Another one of the major complaints against advertisements is offensive, tasteless, irritating etc. Taste is subjective i.e, what is good taste to one may be bad for someone else. ‘Tastes changes with time even as what is offensive today may not be tomorrow. Consumers can be offended by advertising in several ways. E.g. the advertisements for products like ‘contraceptives or personal hygiene are not acceptable to some consumers. B.g. Fear Appeal in Deodorants, Mouthwash & Anti-dandruff shampoo ads are criticized to create anxiety & fear tobe rejected in the society. Back in 2002, Cadbury launched an Ad of Cadbury's Temptations. ‘The newspaper campaign featured a map of India with the tagline “Too good to share” written ‘on Jammu & Kashmir. “I'm good, I'm tempting. I'm too good to share, What am I? Cadbury's ¢ 2 3 uyaseaysnde; sd Scanned with CamScanner152 || Advertising ‘Temptations or Kashmir?” was the catch line. The ads of Set Wet Zatax and Wild Ston (2011), Lux Cozy (2017), Ford Figo (2013) was found to be “indecent, vulgar and sugge ¢ Deg sive Source: www:youtube.com Picture 13.3: Offensive 4. Creates Materialistic Demand: Advertising provides a variety of alternatives to choose from people have needs, Advertising creates derives and fantasies for the consumers. Advertising impacts the minds of customers by— (a) Create needs for them rather than merely showing how a product or service fulfils them. (b) Surrounds consumers with the images of good life and convinces how the materialistic possessions leads to happiness in life. (c) Portrays these possessions as symbol of status, success, social acceptance, popularity, sex appeal and so on. They affects the value system by suggesting that the means to a happiet life is in the acquisition of more material things and encourages people to buy more automobiles, more clothing, and more appliances than they need—all with the promise greater status, greater social acceptance, and greater sex appeal. 5. Comparative Advertising: Comparative advertising is another unethical practice of advertising besides fraudulent and deceptive advertising. Comparative advertising is a form 0 advertising where one party advertises its goods or services by comparing them with that o its competitors. Generally, the competitor is the market leader in that product category. Wi! the market becoming overcrowded with a large no. of products, all the brands are looking (0! ways to attract the customers attention and comparative advertising is one such way they hav discovered. Although comparative advertising was started long ago, yet it is only in past fe years that it has become extremely popular way of advertising especially in sectors like FMC automobiles etc. It may be explicit where a product is directly compared to its comp' " by taking the name of competitor. ‘The Famous Pepsi vs. Coke advertisement where - highlighted its superiority by saying that most people preferred the taste of Pepsi over oe a blind taste test. It may be implicit where in the name of the competing brand is not na™ Scanned with CamScannerSocial, Ethical and Legal Aspects of Advertising || 153 explicitly, rather they are referred to as leading brands. Pepsodent in one of its advertisements ‘atid it is 102 % better than the leading toothpaste, implicitly referring to Colgate. times.com/industry/services/advertising Source: https://economictimes.in Picture 13.4: Comparative Advertising & Stereotype: The advertising world is inundated with different types of stereotypes, ranging from gender and race to socioeconomic roles. The common examples of stereotyping in marketing include gender roles, racial stereotypes and stereotypes involving children. The way groups of people are portrayed in an advertisement does not always fully represent reality. The society creates stereotype about the women. Generally, the entire household product such as soap, washing powder etc. mainly uses women in order to advertise it which generate or add to the stereotype in the society about the women’s that they are limited within the boundaries of their house only. The famous washing powders like Rin, Tide, Fena, wheel etc always uses a woman in order to promote their brand as well as their product. When we watch a commercial for domestic products like detergent, washing bars, floor cleaners, etc. we often see a woman. holding the product and telling us how the product has revolutionized her daily household chores, how her husband is praised at work for his spotless shirt which “she” washed using the product, how the guests are now happy to see the shining crockery “she” cleaned using the product and how it’s safe for her kids to play on the floor after “she” mopped the floor using the product. We seldom see a man involved in any household chore. It is not like woman are dominating the advertisement industry, men have a share too, Men are portrayed driving a Juxury car or a bike while a woman sits on the backseat. They take on the world with their Juxury watches and make the world a better place to live by consuming the so-called ‘sparkling water’ by various companies. There are ads that exploit women by showing them as sex objects, Male personal care products like deodorants, soaps, face wash, moisturizers, etc. are often advertised in a way that is demeaning to the female fraction. They imply that if a man uses their product then women cannot resist being attracted to them, no other quality or qualification is needed, and women are simply desperate to fall in their arms. These advertisements create Scanned with CamScannerAdvertising hace o rons image in the minds of teenagers and young adults who are easily Influenced by 4, ads. Boys feel superior and dominant and girls feel like they are weak and fragile. Children t often portrayed as cute and happy in advertising. Unlike gender and racial stereotypes in| are often portrayed in a way that appeals to their parents, the decision makers. Product, 4 Services are positioned to solve a problem for the parents. For example, a diaper that chant colours when wet does not necessarily appeal to the child, but it does solve « Problem for Parent. The child in the advertisement will often have a smile and broad appeal Source: www.superbrandsindia.com Picture 13.5: Stereotype 7. Improper Language: One of the major complaints against advertising is that the advertising Copy is too casual i.e. improper. It is believed that the advertisements have destroyed the dignity ofthe language, The research on advertising shows that consumers betas responds a the simple and down to earth language than to the more dignified & formal copy. A successful copy is that which is descriptive, colourful and pictures are as warm, human & personal | Surrogate Advertising: Surrogate advertising is advertising which involves a brand or product] message inside an advertisement which is telecasted for another brand or product. Surrogate] advertising came into existence after the Government took initiative to ban advertisements of} products that are injurious to health or body, After implementation of it the major companies) of liquor & tobacco were badly affected so they found other ways of advertising their products.| They have found an alternative path of advertising which helped them to keep on reminding the people of thei liquor/tobacco brands: they have introduced various other products wit the same brand name in their product line. Bagpiper soda and cassettes and CDs, Blender’ Pride, Imperial Blue cassettes & CDs, Haywards soda, Royal Challenge golf accessories ° Scanned with CamScanner10. Social, Ethical and Legal Aspects of Advertising \| 155 arlsberg introduced their quborg Soda, Officer's Choice started advertising playing cards, C ir line of cassettes and ‘own line of glasses in their advertisements, Imperial Blue released thei . CDs,and mineral water etc. The advertisement of Bacardi ends with “Be what you wanna be’ and it keeps on running in consumers head, although the ad portrays that Bacardi is showing music CDs and music promotion but the people holding a glass of liquor and grooving to the music. And the ad ends like “Bacardi-CDs and Audio Cassettes’. In commercial of Viral Pan Masala, Ajay Devgan says “Iske dane dane me kesar hai’, but even a child can make out that he is not promoting saffron from Kashmir but pan masala which carries a statutory health warning (“Chewing of Pan Masala is injurious to health”). : Surrogate Advertising Manipulation: ‘The freedom of choice of consumers is restricted by the power of advertising since it can manipulate buyers into making a decision against their will or interest. Such manipulation can be brought about by playing on the subconscious motives of people, using emotional appeals. Even genuine persuasive power of scientific advertising can have such effects, However, when advertising utilizes appeals that go beyond a basic communication task, then the implication is that consumers will be led to take less than optimal decisions by such-emotional appeals. The advertisers have the power to manipulate their audience. Many large companies have the capacity to get a vast exposure for their advertisements. Also, these ‘companies can utilize advanced and scientific advertising techniques to make an impression ‘on consumers. | Shock Advertising: It is the kind of advertisement which uses concepts that violates social norms or general personal ideals. Such kind of advertisement is generally used to break the monotony of the “normal” advertisements and instead “shock” the audience and create a buzz 7 about the advertisement. The marketers use sexual suggestiveness, other startling images or @ any other shocking way to get consumers’ attention in their advertising. They use controversial, disturbing, explicit and provocative messages that challenge the public's conventional of understanding of the social order. It may not only offend but can also frighten the audience, to Wy sell a product or deliver a public service message. It creates a lasting impression in the minds JS; v > Scanned with CamScanner156 || Advertsing of the people who have had one look at the advertisement as it is one of its kinds, The exam, include the electric switches ad where the couple gets an electric shock and kurkure te hai par mera hai” ad. Another example is of UCB. The United Colours of Benetton launch a shock and an advertising campaign called “Unhate” to boost its lagging brand Tecogniti For this they created a bunch of tailored photos of the world leaders kissing each other on ig which was not taken in good taste by the people. Ethics in advertising is important, because by acting ethically with their advertising, being responsible towards the needs of the customer. Ethical advertising evens the playin, Consumer by giving them the information they need to make an informed decision on wh: bay and how these products will enhance their lives - whether they need the product, or that product a company 8 field for lat products they just was 13.3. Economic Effects of Advertising ‘The advertising boosts the revenue of not only the company but also the country. It is a means by whi the demand for a product can be increased, thereby enabling economies of large scale in manufactu; and distribution. The ‘savings are then passed on the consumer in the form of lower Prices. Advertisi shifts the demand for a class of products when the demand for that product is expansible, ice, ‘o increase through appeals to consumers’ buying motives. In influencing the shape of the dem: sine advertising provides financial support to the media. The advertisements bring revenue whi enables the newspapers and maj igazines to reduce their cover price. The selling of space or time the media to advertisers is essential for the financial viability of the media. Availability of adverts revenue is @ pet-requisite for the growth of media through introduction of new media vehicles and continuation of existing ones. However, there are some ill impacts of advertising, They are as follows: 1. Value of Products: The advertised products are not always the best products in the market. B advertising helps to increase the value for the products by showing the positive image of product which in turn helps convincing customers to buy it. Advertising educates consum: about the uses of the products hence increasing its value in minds of the consumers, 2. Effect on Prices: The advertised products do cost more than unadvertised products as t advertising costs are added to the selling price of the Product. But some products do n advertise much, and they don't need much of it and even their prices are high but they are st the leaders in market as they have their brand name, €8. Porsche cars. On the other side t advertising is a demand stimulant which enables the manufacturers to experience econo of large scale production and distribution and the consequent reduction in unit cost that passed on to the consumer in the form of lower Prices, 3. Bflect on Consumer Demand and Choices: Even if the product is heavily advertised, it do ot mean that the demand or say consumption rates will also increase. The product has 0 different with better quality, and more variety than others, For e.g, McDonalds have varietY flavours with different ranges to offer for different age groups, Scanned with CamScanner