Advertising and society

In addition to criticisms of the ways in which advertising is sometimes executed, advertising is also charged with causing a range of negative effects at a societal level. These include the promotion of materialism, ‘“having” rather than “being”’ as an end unto itself, encouraging over-consumption and the neglect of real needs by consumers in developing countries (Foley and Pastore, 1997, p. 5).

Murphy et al. (2005, pp. 154–5) summarised criticisms of advertising as falling into the following four categories:

• i.advertising violates people’s inherent rights
• ii.advertising encourages certain human addictions
• iii.advertising is motivated by the quest for money rather than truth, and
• iv.advertising often compromises human dignity.

It has been argued that advertising ‘is a mirror that helps shape the reality it reflects, and sometimes it presents a distorted image of reality’ (Foley and Pastore, 1997, p. 2). The ethical concern is that advertising can lead to ‘misinformed perceptions’ in people’s minds, and there is a potential for misleading stereotypes to be promulgated (Borgerson and Schroeder, 2002, p. 571).

Borgerson and Schroeder (2002) cite the ‘Death Row’ advertisements for United Colors of Benetton as an example of advertising that did little more than create negative racial stereotypes in some countries where alternative visual representations of black men were lacking, irrespective of the company’s intentions. The Benetton campaign gathered awards and acclaim worldwide but, at the same time, aroused strong reactions (at times ferocious, at times simply curious). The images are no longer included in Benetton’s past and present campaigns on their website (although they can still be viewed on other internet sites).

The issue of damaging stereotypes in advertising does not just apply to racial groups. Another example is the controversial use of ultra-thin female models in advertising as symbols of beauty and perfection and its detrimental effects on the self-esteem and body images of young girls and women.

In addition, the use of sexualised imagery raises broader issues. According to Borgerson and Schroeder (2005), visual images ‘elude empirical verification’ (p. 258). As such, they are not accountable in the same ways as written or spoken words. People can infer from the image but cannot claim it to be true or false in the same way that they might for a spoken or written product. This gives visual imagery a particular power and also means marketers can avoid being held accountable for making misleading or false claims. A campaign for weight-loss supplements, using the slogan ‘Are you beach body ready?’ and an image of a bikini-clad model was banned in the UK for the perceived message it was sending out. So, in this advertisement, pairing the model with the weight-loss supplement and the slogan is clearly meant to encourage consumers to reflect on their body image (fear and guilt appeals) and to use the product to achieve the desired result (sex appeal), but this is never explicitly stated. This poses a number of ethical concerns, as you will explore next.