Ethics in Advertising

Dear Sujatha,
Nicely explained. Without doubt "Ethics is a collective responsibility for all" and the broader the penetration and reach, higher the responsibility..
Yet such issues are best handled when, associated with professional responsibility and regulator if any playing the mandated role of watchdog, asides an alert customer conveying immediately.If none is reacting the decay is certain.

Nice article, dynamics are changing on a regular basis of the complete business scenario..hence the already thin line between ethical and unethical marketing is further diminishing. its the age of much more than cut throat competition...as they say everything is fair in love and war...so its an open war now...no inhibitions, no limits, no ethics.

Regarding Responsibility, it should be indeed towards their consumers. There exist basic ACTs and REGULATIONs of the land which are loosely defined. Based on these acts, there exist some rules and guidelines for such activities. Now here lies the trick. We generally confused with accountability and use each other interchangibly. Accountability is generally imposed on the PRODUCERS / SELLERs. It can be audited in general framework of LAW. And if violated, sellers / producers may be penalised. But this is not the whole story. Accountability is just the part of Responsibility. Our laws don’t cover whole territory of responsibility. Laws cover only minimum statutory information and education like Pricing, Weight, and Speciality of products, Address, Constituents, and Instructions for use. So, only some area is regulated by acts and rest has been left for a healthy competition under market mechanism. These areas are regulated directly and indirectly by their consumers because they are the end users and auditors of Products. 

First and second aspects: Now I would like to project some facts before you. Before I proceed I mention one thing that whatever I am saying is not exaustive and comprehensive. There is one thing in the mind of producer and same thing in the mind of consumer. Both become complementary to each other. Both can’t survive without each other. So, there is a process of FUSION. This is not an egg-chicken type causation. EITHER producers make product first and fit it into the mind of consumers OR consumers’ hidden and unmet desire / obsession inspires producers to produce and reinforce such things back into the consumers’ mind. This makes them feel that such things will definitely make them what they think of. This is their beliefs just like believing on the visiting TEMPLE every morning in the anticipation that I am free from all evils and near to GOD. So, by performing physical activity you are basically fulfilling spiritual activilty. In the same way, by using such products externally or whatever ideal way written on the products, you are basically fulfilling your psychological desires / dreams. In both situations, you remain happy. To such extent I don’t see any wrong and ethical issues.  This becomes vicious cycle and goes on as long as such desires exist and society accepts it. I accept one thing that THERE IS NO END TO THE HUMAN DESIRE – whether in kind or in quantity. Here honesty on the part of SELLERS / PRODUCERS is not absolute but imposed on them, so it becomes subjective and relative – BOTH, in the context of competition. 

Third aspect is PERSUASION and FORCEFUL Persuasion for ACCEPTANCE of products. Okay. There is one short question for you. Would you like to buy my argument and answer on the topic? Don’t think. It’s definitely NOT. Reason is that I am not an expert, not an established person, not a handsome person, not a successful person, not a NOBLE prize recipient. So my idea is, for time being, just a scrap, not useful for audience. Why should, then, a consumer, with minimum common sense, buy my logic and idea regarding particular product? Using SRK, Tendulkar, Bachhan and like-quality persons helps only to reduce that wall of RESISTANCE of consumers. I don’t see any ethical aspect because explicitly we have the desire to be integrated with something great, something beautiful, something whole, and something complete and perfect psychologically. This is not only with the products but this happens in our normal life too. We feel proud generally to be part of some great personality and big contacts. We do every good and bad using that. This is the reflection of all those. In normal life, it is easy going, then why making noise in other aspect of life. 

Fourth aspect is just dependent on the degree of awareness and accessiblity. Some Trade Secrets are inaccessible to consumers. All agents are working behind the curtains. We see the end product – whether tangible or intangible. Consumers including me are just LAYMEN. We don’t understand the complexity of such strategies. Even we don’t have time to pay attention on such matter everytime. Sometimes costs or others make us behave differently. We mostly use common sense in limited amount. We consumers are governed by the RULE OF THUMB. We can’t make a RATIONAL CHOICE always. So, sometimes we do understand and sometimes we don’t. So, certainly I reduce the burden on consumers in connection with knowing covered strategies of producer. Paralley I accept that this is a game of multi-players. Proportions will depend on many factors. 

Conclusively, I just put it differently. This aspect is changing with time. So, ethical issues in advertising are dynamic. What was ethical yesterday has become normal today, AND what is ethical today will become normal tomorrow. This is a relative. Such Activity depends upon motive of yours. For Someone it may be ethical, if their culture accepts so; for others it is just vice versa. 

All is fair in Love, War and Advertising! My only reservation is that young people should not be targeted with wrong ideas and ideals. For the adults, they better use their brains in accepting the idea behind an advertisement or in the process grow up!

But in, present complex living & advancement in advertisement techniques and media's in the world, one survives for the fittest to sell / establish a market, using all possible perception to win over hearts of the buyers. This is what we see today.

Nice... really interesting summary there!

But i always had this doubt...in the present day world, there are a huge chunk of educated, well reasoned people who are well aware of marketing and the different strategies. This might well question the effectiveness of the marketing involved. How could we tackle this?....

How do we penetrate into their minds?