The Whole Truth: Ethics in Advertising

The Whole Truth: Ethics in Advertising

In a speech by ChrisMoore of Ogilvy and Mather he talks of advertising ethics much like applying for a job; when you go on a job interview or a first date, you don't assume a false identity - but you probably don't make a full disclosure either (Moore). I believe that this statement truly does speak the truth about how ethics and advertising really do tie in together. Advertising really is looking to tell the audience the truth because that’s what they want, but sometimes the whole truth is not necessary especially when trying to appeal to a certain audience.

            There are many different categories that fall into advertising ethics such as legal issues, sexual advertising, and advertising hazardous substances.  However the first thing that really comes to my mind for advertising ethics is the sexual advertising as well as race and gender in advertising.            

We see sexual advertising all around us, even for the most random services or products. The one that comes to mind the most would be for clothing stores that are attracting teens and young adults.  There are some stores that like to keep is classy and also show a wide variety of races and such, but there are still some who really stick out and in all the wrong ways.  The first one would be Abercrombie.  The owner and founder of Abercrombie has always been known for saying that the clothes the produce are for young adults that are “popular” or pretty” and also not for people who are overweight. If you have ever been in a Abercrombie store, you will certainly see, based on their advertisements, that it is only for what the society considers “attractive” people.  Their advertisements consist of guys with their shirts off with 6-pack abs, and girls who are skinny with blonde hair, and it is also very rare that there is any other race except for white. Sometimes however, these advertisements aren’t considered unethical, because they are clearly not stating that they are racist, but they are definitely sexual.  They also do not sell shirts that over a size Large, which is the reason for the attractive, muscular, and skinny models.

            An advertisement that I really find a little strange, are the commercials for GoDaddy.  When you see their advertisements, you honestly think that they are advertising for a pornography website, but they are actually advertising an online search engine.  Even the title of the website is a little sexual, but the commercial doesn’t help to deter it away from the sexual nuance.  I believe that GoDaddy has more recently changed their advertising technique, simply because they weren’t having many people use their site.

            While some of these advertisements are seen as not clearly stating that they are overly sexual or maybe a little racist, I would consider them a little unethical.  My theory on it is that if you can’t sell your product just the way that it is, and you can’t sell it in any other way than sexual advertising, than your product really isn’t worth it.  Pamela Divinsky of CNN says “while "seduction" may continue to be a guiding desire, today we know that it is truth that "sells."  However, while I believe that is true for who I am, it is not always necessarily true for the way the rest of our society views advertising.

            There is one company however, that always will reign the highest for the most unethical type of advertising, and that company is American Apparel.  You rarely see American Apparel advertisements on television, but if you have ever seen a print ad for them, you know that there is rarely one that is not sexual.  The typical ad for American Apparel is a woman, usually white, who is wearing almost nothing except for underwear.  The women are typically topless and are seen in sexual poses with the most popular being their legs being spread open.  If there are males in the ad, they are typically clothed, but are shown in a dominant role over the women.  The company has received flack for over 5 years now, but the owner of the company does not seem to care, and is also very vocal about his opinions over their advertising. 

            While I just touched on the sexual side of advertising, there are many other facets of advertising that are considered to be ethical.  For instance advertising to children, which is illegal in some countries, or advertising hazardous products such as cigarettes, which is banned in Canada.  It is hard however to really fight against advertisements that are sexual, because most of those businesses or products are still being bought, no matter the way in which they advertise.  You may not look like the people in the advertisements but some people have the mentality that they want to try and look like the people they see for their favorite stores.  It is important to me though to realize that if I was ever a copyrighter, that people nowadays are more looking for the truth in ads.  If your advertisement is truthful to what it is selling than I am more inclined to use that product.  Unfortunately, that is not the case all the time, in today’s society.