Presented by:Abdul Aziz M. Temrikar

INTRODUCTION

In this era of globalization and deregulation,advertising has acquired a new status.

As a matter of fact, advertising createsemployment opportunities, providesinformation regarding the developmentstaking place in the society, contributes toeconomic growth, and provides informationabout products and services available in themarket which helps in taking buying decisions.

Ethics

Ethics is a branch of philosophy whichseeks to address questions aboutmorality; that is, about concepts suchas good and bad, right and wrong,justice, and virtue.

HOW ETHICAL ISSUES ARISE IN ADVERTISING

An advertisement of Nestle India Ltd (Maggie healthysoup) claimed that Happy Heart Healthy Soup. The claim created an impression that consumption of

Maggie soup leads to better heart and health, while ontesting by independent agency, it has been found that itcontains high levels of salt which releases sodium intobody which in turn, causes hypertension and high bloodpressure instead of good heart and health. Therefore, on complaint, ASCI declared the

advertisement as case of misleading by implication andambiguity. Therefore, Nestle India Ltd assured ASCI tomodify its advertisements.

Advertisement is considered unethical in thefollowing situations:o When it has degraded or underestimated thesubstitute or rival's product.o When it gives false or misleading information onthe value of the product.o When it fails to give useful information on thepossible reaction or side effects of the product. Ando When it is immoral.

UNETHICAL ADVERTISING

BASIC PRINCIPALS OF ADVERTISING

Decency Honesty Social Responsibility Truthful presentation Comparisons Imitation Safety and health Avoidance of Harm Environmental behavior

Surrogate advertisement Exaggeration Unverified claims Women stereotyping Women used as sex symbols for promoting

products Comparative advertisements Use of children in advertising

WAYS OF UNETHICAL ADVERTISEMENT

SURROGATE ADVERTISINGSurrogate advertising is prominently seen in cases whereadvertising a particular product is banned by law.

Advertisement for products like cigarettes or alcohol which areinjurious to heath are prohibited by law in several countries

and hence these companies have to come up with several otherproducts that might have the same brand name and indirectly

remind people of the cigarettes or beer bottles of the samebrand Common examples include:

Fosters and Kingfisher beer brands, which are often seen topromote their brand with the help of surrogate advertising.

EXAGGERATION Using false claims in the advertisements about the

product. For example:-Ghadi detergent - Pehle Istemaal kare

phir vishvaas kare., Tide detergent White ho toTide ho., Vodafone Essar Wherever you go ournetwork follows.

White ho to

Tide ho.One Drop Challenge Wherever you go our

network follows.

UNVERIFIED CLAIMS

It includes advertisements of energy drinks whichtells us about the number of vitamins and how theyhelp children to grow strong and tall.

There is no way of verifying these false claims. For example:-Horlicks, Tiger biscuits.

WOMEN IN ADVERTISING

Women are generally associated with household worksand is not supposed to be a good decision maker whichcontributes to women stereotyping.

WOMEN STEREOTYPING

Women shown as doing domestic work whichreflects stereotype image of women.

Women in advertising used as sex symbols

Amul macho

Axe dark temptation

UNHEALTHY BRAND COMPARISONS

Nowadays advertisers are engaged in unhealthybrand comparison with the help of advertising.

Such comparisons create problems andconfusions for the right choice of the product asfar as audience are concerned.

Example can be cited of colgate and pepsodenttoothpaste.

Colgate Vs Pepsodent

Complan Vs Horlicks

Coca cola Vs Pepsi

CHILDREN IN ADVERTISING Children are easily

persuaded and have alarge pull on today'smarkets, as is known byall advertisers, evenones who do not intendfor their products to beconsumed by children.

CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS AS TARGET GROUPS

The childrens market where resistance to advertisingis weakest is the pioneer for ad creep.

Kids are among the most sophisticated observers of ads.They can sing the jingles and identify the logos,

and they often have strong feelings about products.What they generally don't understand, however, are the

issues that underlie how advertising works.

A wine bottle that is considered ethically wrong because the lorry may have to moveto certain places where drinking is unethical

AXE ADVERTISEMENT Another Example of AXE a product of HUL, Vaibhav Bedi had

been using AXE Deodorant for the past seven years, butdidnt able to grab the girls attention. Axe advertisements suggest that the products help men in

instantly attracting women. In what could prove to be a major marketing and legal

embarrassment for Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), a 26-year-old man has filed a case against the FMCG company,which owns the Axe brand of men grooming products, forcheating and causing him mental suffering. Vaibhav Bedi, the petitioner, also surrendered all his used,

unused and half-used deodorant sprays, perfume sticks androll-ons, anti-perspirants, aftershaves, body washes,shampoos, and hair gels to the court, and demanded alaboratory test of the products and narcotics test of thebrand managers of Axe

HORLICKS VS COMPLAN The ad started with a scene inside the classroom

where the teacher is taking the attendance. The teacher calls out " Calcium" then a group of

students raise their hands, then she calls out " Iron" another group raises their hands.

Then the voice over talks about the deficiency ofnutrients seen in kids.

Then comes the critical part, a Doctor ( model)comes to the picture and talks about 23 vitalnutrients that is necessary for the growth andclaims that these nutrients are present inHORLICKS.

Horlicks is trying to negate the coredifferentiation of Complan .

Complan since its inception has been harpingon the 23 vital nutrients. Now Horlicks is tryingto create parity by claiming the same property.

Complan has never been so aggressive andblunt.

RIN VS TIDE

This is the first time that HUL has directlycompared Tide with Rin. The Ad even have thetagline "Rin offers Better whiteness thanTide". P&G has took HUL to court over this ad.This ad was timed to coincide with the longweekend so that HUL could play the ad beforethe Court hearing.

UNETHICAL ADVERTISING IN CASE OF RIN Now the outcome of the ad war will be that HUL will

be retrained by ASCII or the Court from furtherplaying the ad .

It means that Rin had adapted an unethical meansagainst the competitor which will cause anunwarranted blemish on the brand reputation.

Second outcome is that it will encourage Tide to bemore aggressive in the market. Tide now has beenofficially and publically acknowledged as thecompetitor for Rin.

COKE VS PEPSI Both made fun of their respective

advertisements. (Eg: Main Youngistaan se aayahun)

Pouching of Employees from both sides Making fun of celebrities used in

advertisement. (Eg: Official Drink & Not anOfficial Drink)

Mostly in advertisement of Sprite & MountainDew.