Introduction
Hi guys, I am back with my new blog.
I think all of us have a nostalgic feeling when it comes to advertisements as our growing days are all about it.
There are so many flashes of advertisements crossing my mind now when I think about those days.
Advertising in those days was all about the story of a product/service with various attractive punchlines or songs to attract the audience of all ages.
But recently the ethical value in advertising is very low which makes us wonder if it requires a sensor board for the advertising sector too.
In this blog, we can see about the advertising ethics in India.
Advertising
Source: https://lisbdnet.com/how-does-advertising-work/
Advertising is the commercial promotion of goods and services done to increase the sales.
Advertising informs the buyers about the availability of a certain product or service in the market and encourages them to buy it.
Types of Advertising
Source: https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/a/advertis.htm
There are a number of means of advertising which includes television, newspapers, wall paintings, billboards, magazines, Internet, by word-of-mouth and social media advertising.
Features of Advertising
The main features of advertising:
- Increase the use of certain products and increase demand for that product in-turn.
- Increase the brand name by creating new consumers.
- To indicate introduction of new products or replacement of old ones.
Source: https://kalyan-city.blogspot.com/2010/07/5-ms-of-advertising-advertising.html
Objectives of advertising
Source: https://slideplayer.com/slide/5757271/
Difference between marketing and advertising
Source: https://www.thebalancesmb.com/marketing-vs-advertising-what-s-the-difference-2294825
What is Ethics in Advertising?
Ethics is the rules or standards governing the advertisement.
Ethics is the requirement for deciding a means of action. With the proper standard and code, the advertisements are properly categorised.
An ethical ad is the one which doesn’t lie, doesn’t make fake or false claims and is in the limit of decency.
Source: https://www.slideserve.com/arkadiy/social-2c-ethical-2c-and-economic-aspects-of-advertising
Source: https://bohatala.com/forbidden-ethics-in-advertising-with-examples/
Ethical value through ages
Source: https://lisbdnet.com/what-is-ethical-advertising/
The word ethics was given much importance during the early periods as the advertisements prepared were very short, informative, and brief with the information to be conveyed to the consumers.
There was no need for unnecessary additions to the product to attract the consumers.
The companies created attractive paper advertisements to impress the consumers with the limited technology and resources available.
The ethical value was high during these periods as the product was given more importance rather than the materials used for the advertisement.
But slowly the agencies started using various modes of advertisements to reach the consumers.
So, to attract the consumers they started using catchy words, phrases in their advertisements.
Famous personalities were also used by them as their brand ambassadors.
Since the agencies started diverting themselves from informative advertisements to popularity the ethical value gets a slowdown.
People are keen to see their favourite personality performing in the advertisements rather than knowing about the product or its features.
They tend to buy the product since it was being endorsed by their favourites.
Unethical advertising
1. Deceptive advertising
One of the unethical advertisements is deceiving the consumers by showing unfair advertisements for basic needs like toothpaste, soaps, fairness creams, oils, and shampoos.
They spread false information that the consumers will become very fair using their products or their hair grows long with their oils and shampoos.
But it is not the true facts.
There are cases where the consumer gets mentally depressed when the reality is not happening as shown in the advertisements.
2. Children in advertising
As they make a child act in the advertisement to attract the target audience, they sometimes end up doing something that is not meant for children.
Children influence product purchase decisions, for example, by demanding that their parents buy a certain product which is an unethical way of advertising.
3. Sexual biased advertising
Since there is no censorship for the advertisements, the creation of advertisements doesn’t follow the basic moral and ethical standard and depict or portray mostly a woman in a wrong picturization as weaker sex, home makers, or they fit to do some specific job.
Some go to the extent of using unethical picturization which must be strictly offended by the government.
They fail to keep in mind that the advertisements are watched by all age groups of people and not by the people above 20 years.
Few examples of unethical advertisements are as follows:
Deodorant – The advertisements depict women badly as following the man using their deodorant.
Virgin Mobile – The advertisement is about two guys admitted in a hospital who are exploiting a pure profession – ‘Nursing’.
4. Socially responsible advertising
Some products are socially questionable and cannot be promoted ethically.
Socially questionable advertising includes the stereotyping of women, surrogate advertising, making false claims, and so on.
The only aim for them is to increase the sales through marketing which makes them create fewer cheaper advertisements with unethical words and phrases.
In certain jurisdictions, laws prevent the advertising of products such as cigarettes or alcohol.
Surrogate advertising involves finding ways to remind consumers of these products without alluding to them directly.
Example: Bacardi
Bacardi, a renowned name in the alcohol business, advertises its signature rum by sponsoring various events, most notably the annual NH7Weekender music festival and music CDs.
5. Puffery Advertising
Puffery is a statement or claim that is promotional in nature. It’s usually subjective and not to be taken seriously.
Examples of these include claiming that one’s product is the “best in the world”, or something completely unbelievable like a product claiming to make you feel like you’re in space
Why is ethics important?
As the population of India is more, there is a B-Line of many international companies trying to put their hand in the Indian Market.
The advertising agencies are exploiting these Indian manufacturers in putting their market through advertising suitable to Indian conditions.
The severe competition for the same product and services brings in fierce advertisement from agencies counteracting each other’s specifications.
Until now advertisements also boost the sales of duplicate and malnutrition products.
Misleading advertisement in fact violates several rights of a consumer be it right to be informed, right to choose, right to be protected against unsafe goods and services as well as unfair trade practices, which in turn makes it offensive by nature.
And such misleading advertisements can be further objectionable in the court of law.
Hence there must be certain ethics to be followed by the advertising agencies not only as professional ethics but also as a socially responsible citizen.
There are few advertisements which really teach the people too.
For example, a dad will teach his son to say “thank you” to the servant appreciating the service done to them.
This creates a good manner among the children as they benefit from it.
Similarly in another ad the creative concept ZOO ZOO was made mainly to target the audience with their new strategy. It did impress all with its innovative creatures.
Consumer Protection Act, 2019
Consumer Protection Act, 2019 protects the basic rights of consumers and seeks a quick and fast redressal to the consumers.
To know more about it please check about them in their website https://consumeraffairs.nic.in/acts-and-rules/consumer-protection
The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI)
The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), established in 1985, is a Self-Regulatory Organization committed to protecting consumer interests.
ASCI was formed by the industry with the support of all four sectors connected with Advertising – Advertisers, Advertising Agencies, Media (including Broadcasters and the Press) and others like PR Agencies, Market Research Companies etcetera.
Since its inception, ASCI has come a long way in meeting its objectives, and in the past few years, has achieved quite a few milestones.
Conclusion
With the invention of new technology and software the agencies can market their products with ease and reach a larger group but what really matters is how far they are produced ethically along with legal values with the true facts and ideas.
The ASCI board and CPA 2019 must make sure they see the content of advertisements before on-air and issue certificates to the advertisements based on the content.
By this way, there will be better advertisements which benefit the entire category of the consumers.
Hope you enjoyed reading the blog. See you soon!!!
Thanks for sharing. I read many of your blog posts, cool, your blog is very good.
Thank you 😊