Ethical Advertising or Not? PART 1 from a South African Perspective

These days its extremely difficult to distinguish between ethical and unethical advertising, the line between is so fine that the interpretation of it is ultimately left up to the consumer to make the decision. The closer the advertising pitch is to controversial, funnily enough, the more consumers find it appealing, get suckered in and after its too late realise the consequences. Blatant trickery in advertising in my opinion constitutes fraud and these companies should have the whole book flung at them.

Two of the biggest markets are woman and kids. The amount of money made from these two sectors runs into billions each year and companies know exactly how to tug on those purse strings. I don’t believe that you could ever eradicate companies that sell products that are less than acceptable; e.g., alcohol and cigarette products. To put the whole blame on advertising companies alone would be an injustice to them. Why would companies resort to subtle advertising tactics to sell products to kids, their attempts to do this is just a waste of time and money when they know very well that to sell products to kids you just have to be straight forward. The subtle side of the deal is directed at the parents who open up the wallets and pay. Parents are the ones that need to be subtly deceived because most of the time they are ultimately the decision makers. Parents need to run their kids like a business, especially when it comes to their finances. Proper reports on how they spend ‘ family-comapany’ money should be a priority.

The never ending debate of unethical advertising towards kids is one that has been raging on for some time between concerned parents and those companies that promote less desirable products. Who takes the responsibility? I think that both parties should take equal blame for what kids are watching on TV and buying in the shops.

Consumers need to be a bit more street wise when looking to purchase any product no matter what it is. Be aware that to sell products companies rely on pulling those needy, desirable heart strings. Make sure that you are not suckered into impulse buying, this is a big threat that will result in mixed emotions once a product is bought. Make sure that your communities don’t allow less desirable products to be blasted all over your neighbourhood - alcohol and cigarettes especially. There are many other silent products that have a detrimental effect on our lives, we eat and use them everyday check the contents of your cupboards and you’ll be shocked.

Advertising that is ethical or unethical is something we all need to take note of, make no mistake there is a fine line and its this fine line that causes the debate. Those companies that are hovering on this line are more destructive than a cigarette company that openly displays that smoking causes lung cancer. Don’t get caught up in subtle advertising tactics, educate yourselves and your kids that’s the best defense you have in the fight against unethical advertising.

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