whomp whomp whopper...

When it comes to the advertising industry as a whole, I think what goes through our minds first when the topic is brought up is how deceptive the industry can be. For the most part I think it’s safe to say that we as viewers are sort of gullible, but I think that part of that has to do with the way the advertisers form the advertisement. They appeal to exactly what we as consumers are looking for. I know that when I see an infomercial for a product that in reality I know doesn’t do what it says it does, I still am drawn to it for some reason. Advertisers are good in the manipulation area.

But, here’s where I’m getting with this. According to Straubhar in “Media Now, Understanding Media, Culture and Technology,” the government can only regulate so much when it comes to advertising. The term “puffery” is used to describe extreme claims made in advertisements, such as “the best you can get.” We see this kind of advertising strategy on a daily basis, yet, we believe it! I guess the big question I’m trying to pose is, when should the government be allowed to regulate, and when should they step off? And, if we know it’s false advertising, why do we still accept it?

My example I want to throw out is the advertising for fast food restaurants. In their commercials, they describe their food as if it was made in a five star restaurant, claiming they only use the freshest ingredients. In reality, we all know that that isn’t the truth, because really these places are microwaving a slab of the lowest grade beef possible and throwing it on a bun and calling it a hamburger. Take a look at this Burger King Ad. The advertisement shows much bigger portions, and much more appetizing looking burger then what is actually sold to the customer. We see these kinds of things happen all the time, so why do we still feed into it?

I’d like to say I can answer this for myself, but when I really think about it I’m just as guilty as anyone else out there. My best guess would be because we are so used to not getting exactly what the advertisement promises, we settle because it’s the only thing we know how to do. I know personally I wouldn’t even know how to go about fighting against this kind of false advertisement, which again goes back to, when is it acceptable to regulate? For now, I say the best I can do is definitely not order a whopper from Burger King.

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Don't you just love Kelly Ripa?

A very controversial topic in the media ethics definitely comes back to stereotyping in advertising. These stereotypes are not made up in the advertising business, rather these are stereotypes that are formed in our society and taken by advertisers to tell a certain product a certain way. Stereotypes such as women stay at home while men work, all African Americans are athletic, or even any type of ethnic role are assumptions made throughout our culture that somehow resonate in the advertisements we see on a daily basis.

Of course, this is an ethical issue of the media. Not only have advertisers given light to these stereotypes, but they have also created other harmful stereotypes about body image and beauty. For example, as used in the text book “Media Now, Understanding Media, Culture and Technology,” it is pointed out that in almost every ad that contains female models, the girls are not only abnormally thin, but have not one imperfection, anywhere. This type of image sends a message to females, as well as males, the beauty is all about being thin, and that beauty equates to perfection. Girls now see themselves as never being good enough, and men compare the women to these fake infectious beauties we call models. The advertising industries stereotyping has put a harmful spell on our society, causing sicknesses such as bulimia, anorexia, and extreme low self esteem in adolescents.

The link I have posted below is a commercial that I think anyone who watches any sort of TV has seen way too any times, the Kelly Ripa Electrolux advertisement. I chose this commercial as an example because I think it portrays two very common stereotypes that have been detrimental to our society. The first stereotype displayed by this advertising is the one of women stay at home to do the cooking and cleaning while men work outside of the home. Here, Kelly Ripa displays all of her daily duties, cooking a meal and cleaning up after her husband and kids, all while looking perfectly cool, calm and collected. With that, comes the second stereotype which I previously described. Kelly Ripa is an exceptionally beautiful and thin celebrity, so it’s no coincidence that the advertisers behind Electrolux chose her to be their spokeswomen. This advertisement speaks to people as saying that not only do women have to beautiful and super thin, but also it is the woman’s job to stay home too cook and clean.

Personally, my stance on advertising stereotyping is that it has become more and more harmful as time goes on. Although we don’t know it, advertising effects our thoughts and expectations. I think that because it is so well known how much of an impact advertising has on us, those companies should take it upon themselves to promote healthy images and positive attitudes, rather then something that for most people is quite unachievable.

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Link to Kelly Ripa Ad:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDBMHz1Dthw

OPEN YOUR EYES!

Another aspect I’d like to touch on when it comes to media ethics is subliminal advertising. This is probably one of my favorite topics when it comes to advertising ethics because subliminal messages are something we can only notice when they’re pointed out to us. Although I had always heard that advertisers strategically place hidden messages in their ads, I was skeptical as to whether this was just a myth or actually the truth. To my surprise, it didn’t take much research to find that many of the most popular and lucrative brands we associate ourselves with on a daily basis have serious subliminal advertising! Everything ranging from Coca-Cola to Walt Disney products all have some kind of hidden message that unless pointed out to the naked eye, goes unnoticed. Yet, I must say that once many of these had been pointed out to be I now cannot look at certain brands without seeing the subliminal message.

According to Straubhar, the author of “Media Now, Understanding Media, Culture, and Technology, “Subliminal Ads are words and messages that are presented below the audiences level of awareness.” For years it has been a question as to whether or not using subliminal advertising on consumers who don’t even know it’s there is ethical. Personally, I think it’s a risk that a company can choose whether or not to take. Since subliminal messages are below the audiences level of awareness, unless it’s pointed out to them they have no idea that a message is even there in the first place. What I think is that company needs to weigh out the risks of putting a message in their ad, and whether or not that message, if discovered, will effect consumers demand and also brand loyalty.

Take a look at the link I have attached to this post. It’s a Youtube video that points out the subliminal advertising tied in with Coca-Cola. I definitely think that in this case, it’s an ethical issue. In the video, the creator points out Coca-Cola’s references to cocaine, in that the actual Coca-Cola symbol is really two faces, and one of those faces has a straw coming out of it’s nose. I think that this is an extreme ethical issue, because cocaine use is a serious issue and could cause consumers to associate the brand with the drug. Although it is a fact that Coca-Cola used to use the drug in the product, the truth is that the company hasn’t done so in a very long time. Personally, I think that something like that would actually cause advertisers to shy away from any type of drug references to clear the Coca-Cola name.

I have also posted more Youtube links under the Coca-Cola one, because even though I just touched on one, there are so many interesting subliminal messages in every day advertisements!

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Coca-Cola Subliminal Advertising Link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztTCbbXE24I

Other Subliminal Advertising Links

Facebook Subliminal Advertising

Apple Subliminal Advertising

McDonalds Subliminal Advertising

When it comes to the advertising of harmful products, the tobacco industry is one that has been the focus of critic’s worldwide. For years, the tobacco industry has been known to advertise not just cigarettes, but a life style. Many of the older ad campaigns used to contain an attractive male figure either smoking a cigarette, or with a lit cigarette in his hand. And, of course there was always a beautiful, and yet somewhat helpless woman by his side. This type of advertising represents the thought that smoking cigarettes is not only the manly thing to do, but it will also attract beautiful women.

Another issue pertaining to the cigarette industry in regards to the advertisement of harmful products is the tobacco industries tendency to withhold information. Although we know now that the nicotine in cigarettes can cause cancer, the companies producing cigarettes know that this information is obviously harmful for business, so they tend to either shine little or no light that their products can have fatal results. This type of advertising is harmful to the consumer, because although in this generation it is secondhand knowledge that smoking can kill, advertisements that tend to make smoking cigarettes look glorious stray people away from the facts, and that’s not a coincidence. Advertising in the tobacco industry does the exact opposite of the entire point of advertising in the first place; informing consumers. These companies are distracting us from the facts, and thus advertising harmful products that are against the codes of media ethics.

With that, according to Latour, tobacco companies have even been recently aiming towards a younger audience; kids! I chose this image above because I think it has a good satirical sense in what I, and Latour are trying to explain. The book uses the example of the recent Joe cigarette ad that is geared toward children, in trying to get them into a life threatening habit at such a young age. This image of course is not a serious one, but then again are tobacco companies really being serious when they advertise cigarettes towards children? To me, this is simply insane! I find this image amusing in the sense that it’s saying to advertisers, are you really going to subject our children to such habits through the advertising of harmful products? This, for sure, is an extreme example of a violation of advertising ethics. Although some measures have been taken to save at least the children and future generations (by taking out tobacco ads in magazines often read by children) from this habit, the issue still remains in that advertisers should be punished for such harsh violations of their code of ethics.

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Introduction

For the topic of this particular blog, I am choosing to relate each of my posts to advertising ethics. This topic is something that I feel very strongly about, in that many of my communications classes have shed a new light on advertising for me. I have a keen eye for spotting advertising techniques, such as product placements, strategies to increase consumer brand loyalty, or deceptive advertising. Throughout this blog, I want to take what I've learned about the ethics and brains behind many big advertisements and give examples as to how those advertisers use certain tactics to sway peoples opinions to think in a certain way.