The Ethics of Advertising

Commercial Advertising
Commercial advertising is the
communication between a seller and
potential buyers that is publicly addressed
to a mass audience and is intended to
induce members of this audience to buy
the sellers product.

 Advertisements create desire for the

sellers product in consumers.
It creates a belief that the product is a
means of satisfying some desire the buyer
already has

Psychological effects of advertising:

Debases the tastes of the public by
presenting irritating and aesthetically
unpleasant displays.
People are often led to forget the
importance of other, more basic needs
and more realistic ways of achieving self
fulfillment.

Economic effects of Advertising:

Wasteful expenditure: Production and
selling costs.
There is no added utility for the consumer.
Advertising doesnt take care of natural
resources and doesnt teach us how to
utilize it effectively.

Effects on consumer Beliefs

Can be deceptive.
Can be misleading.
There can be misbranding
There can be mislabeling

Ads that come under the scrutiny of

Ethics
Ads for health care and beautification
Ads for vices with fatal effects: Tobacco ,
Pan masala, Alcohol.
Surrogate Advertisements
Ads with questionable appeals: That
exploit the emotions and relationships

 Ads with stereotypical appeals: our

fairness creams or Hidesign ad.
Ads that use deception.
Ads that target children and adolescents.ITC Sunfeast Biscuits.

 Ads that cause damage to the Natural

Environment-Coke and Pepsi painted the
Himalayas Red.
Ads that make false claims: Yum fresh Pizza.
Comparative Ads- Skirmish between Cavin Kare
and HLL over their Chik shampoo

 Ads that lose focus: Pepsi Cappuccino.

Bait Advertisements: Credit card facilities
and limits.
Internet ads:

Wise to avoid:
Palming off- This occurs when an
advertiser creates the impression that its
goods or services are those that are
furnished by a competitor.
Product disparagement occurs when an
advertiser intentionally makes false or
misleading negative remarks about
competing goods and services

Action taken
Fencing in This enables the authority to
bar misleading ads with respect to a
particular product and across all other
unrelated product lines. The adv of
product A could lead to believe that
product B and C are also great.

Parties involved in ads;

The Authors.
The Medium
The Audience.

Legislations for protecting

consumers in India:
1930- The Sales of Good Act
1937- The Agricultural Produce (Grading
and Marking) Act
1940-The Drug and cosmetic Act

 1950- Emblems and Names Act

1952- Indian Standards Institution Act
1954- The Essential Commodities Act
1958-The Trade and Merchandise Marks
Act

 1969- The Monopolies and Restrictive

Trade Practices Act
1981-The Air (Prevention and Control
pollution Act)
1985- The Standards of weight and
Measures Act

 1987- The Railway Claims Tribunal Act

1992- The Securities and Exchange Board of
India (SEBI) act
1993-Electrical Appliances Act
2000-The Information Technology Act

MRTP Act
MRTP Act States that false advertisement
is a form of unfair and deceptive
commerce
MRTP can bar ads that are misleading
even if true.
Has the power to order Corrective Ads.

 Corrective advertising requires a business

to run ads that alert consumers to certain
unfavorable facts about a product not
revealed in past advertisement. Listerine
mouth wash----not a remedy for sore
throat or cold.

Regulate yourself, or someone else will

Legal actions can be taken against
advertisements that
Ridicule caste, race, nationality, colour
and creed.
Goes against any provision of the Indian
Constitution.

 Incite people towards criminal activity,

provocative, cause disorder and/or violence in the
country.
Breach laws and/or glorify obscenity or violence in
any form.
Glorify terrorism, communal massacres,
criminality and so on.
Ridicule the father of the nation, the national
emblem, part of Constitution or the image of a
national leader or a state dignitary.

 Depict women in a deprecating manner.

Females should not be portrayed in a manner
that is obscene, exploitative or vulgar.
Display distasteful visual content that goes
beyond the established norms of good taste
and decency.
Exploit and encourage social evils like child
marriage, bride burning and dowry system

 Here are some more ethics and standards

to be followed in advertisements:
1. Permission will not be granted where
objects are completely or largely religious
or political in nature. Advertisements
cannot be directed towards any religious
or political end, or to gain mileage of any
form.

 2.Any goods or services that are advertised

should not have any defect or deficiencies of
any form declared in the Consumer Protection
Act 1986.
3. Products should not be portrayed in a way
that misleads the public to infer that the item
has some special, miraculous or a super natural
quality, which is anyways difficult to prove.

4. Picture and the audible matter of the

advertisement video should not be
excessively loud.
5. Advertisement should not endanger the
safety of children or produce any sort of
perversion or interest that prompts them to
adopt or imitate unhealthy practices.
.

 6.Any type of offensive, indecent,

suggestive, vulgar, repulsive themes
and/or treatment must be avoided under
all circumstances.

 Good creative advertisement will always

attract peoples attention, but they should
have meaningful visual content. one
shouldnt have an attitude to play with
peoples sentiments and emotions.
Remember, the golden words of David
Ogilvy, the famous Ad Guru, " A good
advertisement is one which sells the
product without drawing attention to itself