Advertising is constantly bombarded by criticism. It is accused of encouraging materialism and consumption, of stereotyping, of causing us to purchase items for which we have no need, of taking advantage of children, of manipulating our behavior, using sex to sell, and generally contributing to the downfall of our social system. However, many marketing communicators claimed that what they do is moral, they give to people what they really want to see, and that the public perceives advertising as a good thing. However, making money and corrupting the morals of a minor at the same time is not my idea of ethical advertising.
The role of advertising has been debated for centuries. Advertising ethics is a topic that has commanded the attention of philosophers, practitioners, scholars, and theologians. It is considered manipulative since it has the power to influence children to do things they would not do if they were not exposed to advertising. Some kind of advertising have negative appeal on children, since they make them believe that if they don't buy such product they will be rejected by others. They appeal negative emotion such as fear, guilt, and humiliation also. Food advertising to children
Critics contend that many of the products targeted to children are unnecessary and that the communication is exploitative. In US, for example the issue of advertising food to children is considered ethical, because the issue of childhood obesity and the marketing of food products to children are considered as debatable topic. Childhood obesity is a major problem. Many critics consider unethical to market food products to children especially through practices using cartoon characters to sell sugared cereals and non nutritious snacks. The problem consist in advertising some kind of food product, especially sugary cereals , to children where marketing communicators claim that those kind of food is healthy, rich in vitamins and protein, however this is not true. Many parents relied on those advertisement, and then they were surprised whith the increasing of weight of their kids, and after revising what their children are eating, they arrived to the conclusion that the food that were advertised are the cause. Those parents discovered that those junk foods contains high sugar and low nutrient, while in the ingredients parts it is not stated. The other problem raised here is the unethical use of popular pre-school personality to promote unhealthy food to children. The marketing communicators do not care about this since their only aim is to persuade those children to buy and eat junk food. This is considered immoral and ethical because they are selling junk food to those kids, while in their advertising there are claiming that it is a healthy food.
Advertising is capable of moving children against their free will. Tobaccos companies and alcohol companies are the most accused of targeting children and teenagers in their advertisements and it harm them rather than beneficiate them. It is both socially and legally unacceptable to advertise to children.
Many advertisement target adult product to teens and kids, according to a study by a watchdog group at Georgetown University reported that one- quarter of alcohol advertising was more likely seen by youth and kids than adults. Another issue that concerns the majority of parents is the targeting of cigarettes to children via advertisement and product placements in movie. Many academic researchers have suggested that exposure to cigarette advertising leads youth and children to view cigarettes as a positive consumption symbol and to be more likely to smoke. What pushes more children to start smoking is not the ad itself, but the issue of seeing the ads, handling the cigarette packets and the offering of gifts, all this reduce their resistance, so they will be more willing to accept a cigarette offered by someone else.
Additionally, many advertising use subliminal cues and primes to influence consumer behavior in a subtle way. The only concern of the marketing communicators is to take advantage of the vulnerabilities of the children and exploit them so consequently the society loses while the marketing gains.
The problem is that the children can not understand fully what advertising is about, so for that reason they are considered as potential consumers, also because they have a huge influence in their parents. As far as I m concerned, this is not ethical at all because marketers manipulate verbal and visual images to influence children. I believe that advertising to children is immoral and ethical, and it has become a huge business. Marketing communicators consider people as a means rather than ends, and this is something immorally. Either they find a way to do business ethically or stop doing business.
Reference:
Integrated Marketing Communications in Advertising and Promotion.(7th ed.) Thomson :
USA.
