ETHICS IN ADVERTISING
Marketing
AGENDA WARM-UP
• Warm-up questions
• Vocab on front (can use notes)
• Backside of sheet
• Questions 11-15
• PowerSchool isn’t working so grade changes are work in progress
• 4.01 Part A&B Ads and Press Release
• 4.01 Part C: 4 Consumer Promotion
• Tomorrow guest speaker from Johnson & Whales
OBJECTIVES: PART D
A. Define fear-based advertising & understand how it is used
B. Define and differentiate between targeting & positioning
C. Discuss sexism/stereotyping in advertising.
D. Explain ethical issues associated with promotion to children.
FEAR-BASED ADVERTISING
• Fear based advertising: tactics used by marketers to
motivate target audiences to take action quickly.
• Also known as Shockvertising
• Plays on peoples emotions
• Consumers are shown ads that make them fearful of a competitor
or a failure to act
• What will happen if the product runs out?
• Consumers are shown threats that are viewed as credible
• People won’t like you
• People choose products that makes them feel safe
EXAMPLE OF FEAR BASED AD
• Fear of being fat (gyms/diet)
• Being lonely (dating sites)
• Fear of old age (cosmetics)
• Fear of not being safe (ADT/cars)
• Fear of falling & not getting up
• Fear of dying
FEAR BASED EXAMPLES
FEAR BASED ADVERTISING
• All-State Commercials are notorious for
fear-based ads
•
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVngo_slWJ4
•
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVngo_slWJ4
• Volkswagen
•
•
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpAKW7FMDIo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjcSWW3vCBk
• Smoking
Companies that use Fear Based Ads:
• Acne medication ads (pro-active)
• Toothpaste ads
• If you don't use their toothpaste,
your breath will stink and your
teeth will be yellow
• Anti aging beauty product ads
• if you don't buy their products you
will look way older than you should
• Anti-smoking ads
• Mothers against drunk driving ads
• Political ads
• Diet product ads
• Lysol ads
• Michelin tire ads
FEAR BASED ADVERTISING
• Easiest way to accomplish fear based advertising is to begin with
three simple words:
“In my experience….”
Example:
“In my experience, I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for the help of
my ______________________”
FEAR BASED ADVERTISING
• Targeting: finding and reaching the maximum number of
qualified prospects at the lowest possible cost
• Positioning - persuading the maximum number of your
prospects to buy from you
• Use FEAR and HOPE to persuade consumers
FEAR BASED ADVERTISING
• Why do marketers use fear to
generate sales?
• Because humans respond to bad
news
• Fear causes us to act
• Fear is a motivator
• How many of you have parents that
use fear to motivate or influence
behavior?
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YleZvTSDC6s
FEAR EXAMPLES
FEAR BASED ADVERTISING
• Fear in ads is effective when they provide:
• High levels of threat or pose an important problem
• High level of efficacy
• A change in behavior will help the problem go
away
• Make the customer very afraid
• Reduce fear by advertising your product
ETHICS IN ADVERTISING
Secret Sins of the Industry
MARKETING FAILURES
• Advertising isn't just about the things we buy
• It's about how we feel about things, including ourselves.
• Example: New Coke v. Coca-Cola
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxRqKgjD3vY (4:37)
• 80% of Americans say they feel better about companies that are
aligned with social issues.
• 2/3 of American are inclined to switch to a brand that they
identify with a good cause
ETHICS
• Ethics: Guidelines for good behavior
• Concept is do what is in the best interest of the biggest number
• In advertising, companies want to grab your attention
• Entertain
• Persuade
• Inform
• Remind
LIAR, LIAR
• Ads for reputable companies almost never lie
• They just don’t disclose the whole truth up front
• Agencies have to prove what they say to
•
•
•
•
Their own corporate counsel
Ad agency lawyers
The network's approval committees
A number of regulating bodies like the FDA and the FTC.
• Ad companies that get caught lying/cheating have to pay
substantial fines
ADVERTISEMENTS = 1ST IMPRESSION
• For a company trying to sell you something an
advertisement is like trying to get a job interview with
millions of people at one time
• Make good first impression
• Don’t make anyone angry or mad
• Difficult to please all because people view things differently
• The bolder the ad, the more polarizing it becomes
• Big events bring about such ads
• Examples: Olympics, Super Bowl, Oscars, etc..
CHRISTOPHER REEVE
• During the 2000 Super Bowl, millions of people saw the following commercial
for Christopher Reeve walking again.
• Some of us saw an uplifting message of hope
• Some saw a cynical company manipulating people's hope to make a buck.
• Many with disabilities - saw an ad that gave false hope.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1zE5f_A5sY
NIKE
• 2000 Olympics
• Nike created a commercial based off a horror movie
• Commercial received over 2,000 complaints.
• Nike heard them and killed the spot
• Do you think the ad was unethical?
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1JpOSz4lnI
ETHICS IN ADVERTISING
• Tobacco Advertising
• Would you do an ad campaign for a cigarette company?
• Over $1.5 billion in free advertising takes place each year for public
service announcements denouncing cigarette use
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gib8zOmzzd8&list=PLyHzq_EfnYkX09EoN_5I3ND2w83i
weLrc&index=1
ETHICS IN ADVERTISING
• Beer Commercials
• What do all these beer commercials have in common?
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMiAEQyAOak
• Liquor Advertisements
• A beer & a shot have same effect
• One can be advertised on television, one cannot until after 9:00 pm
• Is this practice fair?
ETHICAL BRAND
• When you hear Smirnoff,
what do you think of?
Vodka
IS SMIRNOFF ICE AN ETHICAL
PRODUCT?
SMIRNOFF
• A rival company says this commercial is misleading you
because there's no vodka in Smirnoff Ice.
• It's a malt beverage.
• Does the name "Smirnoff" mean "vodka" or is it just a name?
• Are you being fooled here?
• If you thought Smirnoff Ice contained vodka, did you also think it contained
ice?
• Product was examined by the ATF (Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms) and allowed
CONDOMS
• Most networks will not play condom ads
• Offend certain demographics
• Basically condoning sex
• Usually very racy/edgy ads
• Difficult to provide product demonstration in an
appropriate way
• Most condom ads always have one thing showing.
What is it?
• Wedding Ring
• Even though target market is not married couples
LOREAL COMMERCIAL
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrp0NqKvoYA
• What is wrong with this commercial?
CHILDREN
• L’Oreal Kids Shampoo
• There is no adult supervision shown around the swimming pool.
• The Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of the Better Business Bureau (BBB),
which also monitors kid's programming, requires that adults be shown supervising
children when products or activities could be risky.
• L'Oreal changed the commercial to model good parental behavior.
• Aim toothpaste showed a child who went to the bathroom in a
museum to brush her teeth.
• Had to be taken off the air when teachers complained that they'd never let a
child leave the group unattended.
PHARMACEUTICAL ADVERTISING
• Information is ethically neutral
• Most people welcome more information because it enables individuals to
form their own judgments
• Used to be doctors informed citizens about medicine, now commercials
introduce them
•
•
•
•
•
Ads have raised awareness
More people go to the doctor now than before
Drugs advertised are not the cheapest (generic version)
FDA requires companies to reveal any possible side effects
Killed the weight loss drug industry
PRODUCT PLACEMENT
• Do you think its ethical for movie companies, television
networks, music artists, etc.. To use product placement in
their advertising?
• In the theatre we have no way of knowing whether the director
chose those cars because they fulfilled his artistic vision - or
because the car manufacturer made a deal with the
producer.
• Audiences like realism in movies.
• Made-up brands affect the audience because they feel like their being
lied to
• They're obvious fakes
GUERILLA ADVERTISING
• Product placement happens in real life
• If you go out to a club tonight, you might see some
particularly good-looking young people using a
new kind of cell phone.
• Will voluntarily let you use product
• The phone is very cool & so are the people hired
• They're also actors and this is a gig for them.
• Their job is creating the impression that using this phone is The
Next Trend.
• If you ask them directly if they are actors, they won't lie.
• If you don't ask, they won't tell.
SUBLIMINAL MESSAGING
• Subliminal advertising is one of those "urban legends."
• Take a photograph of a glass of ice water or the
beverage of your choice and make a fake ad out of it.
• Then invite people to find or guess the subliminal
messages in your ad.
• Most will be able to come up with something
• This is what advertising companies do.
• They present an idea in a way that allows you to form your
own opinion but the way gain information is based off how
they present it
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4to2f4L5MU
ETHICS PROJECT
ASSIGNMENT OPTION #1:
• Create an advertisement that is intentionally unethical. The
advertisement can promote any product, service, or idea you
wish but must use questionable marketing tactics to
accomplish this task.
• An advertisement is considered unethical in the following
situations:
• When it has degraded or underestimated the substitute or rival’s
product
• When it gives false or misleading information on the value of a product
• When it fails to give useful information on the possible reaction or side
effects of the product.
• When it is immoral
SURROGATE ADVERTISEMENT
• Surrogate Advertisement: Used to promote a banned
product in the disguise of another product.
• Uses a different product to advertise their name
• 84% of viewers pickup on the unintended brand
being advertised
• Example:
• Bicardi Blasts music CD’s
• Bagpiper Club Soda
• Officer’s Choice Playing Cards
PUFFERY
• Puffery refers to claims
that express subjective
rather than objective
views
• Most reasonable people
would take not take
literally.
• However, a two-year
old might believe that
polar bears enjoy
sipping Coca-Cola.
MIGHT BE TRUE BUT IS IT?
EXAGGERATION
• Exaggeration: Using false claims in an advertisement
Wherever you go our
network follows.
UNVERIFIED CLAIMS
• Unverified claims: It includes
advertisements of “energy
drinks” which tells us about
the number of vitamins and
how they help children to
grow strong and tall.
WOMEN STEREOTYPING
• Women Stereotyping: Using
women to promote
household cleaners
SEX SYMBOLS
Women used as sex symbols:
COMPARATIVE AD
 Comparative advertisement: Occurs when a company compares itself to its
competitor.
 Examples:
 Coke v. Pepsi
 Colgate v. Pepsodent.
COMPARATIVE ADS
CHILDREN
Use of children in
advertisements:
 Children watch more
advertisements than almost
anyone.
 They can sing jingles,
recognize logos, and
typically have strong
feelings about a product.
PARODY ADS
Assignment #2 Option
ASSIGNMENT #2: PARODY AD
• Parody Ads:
• You are to create a parody advertisement that provides criticism of a company
yet speaks the truth
• Advertisement should be more than a joke but can be funny, sad, or insulting
• Viewers of your ad should clearly understand the point you are making
• The criticism you create must be true
• If altering an existing ad, accompany the original advertisement with it as well
FAIR ADVERTISING
• What is this ad saying?
• Messages like these want to
convince people that alcohol is
magic.
• These ads tell us that alcohol can
make us successful, sophisticated
and even sexy. Without it, life is
dull, ordinary and boring.
I-POD