Ethical Issues in Advertising
There are wide variety of ethical issues in advertising –- marketing unhealthy products , advertising to children and using puffery .
Unhealthful Products
There are products that cause harm to human health e. g tobacco , alcohol , pan masala . Should they be allowed to advertise ? Some countries have banned such advertisements whereas some restrict such advertising . The companies feel that as long as the products are legal ,there should not be any restriction on advertising them . Critics , however , disagree .
Advertising to Children
Can we direct the commercials to children ? TV advertising to children poses an ethical dilemma . There are issues of cartoon channels and advertising . The young mind will not be able to distinguish between the programme content and advertising .
Using Puffery
Puffery is exaggerated subjective praise of the product without any substantiation . Some puffery is harmless , and cannot be proved or disproved . Puffery should not be misleading , and should not be used as a license to lie . Mostly people can understand when an advertiser is exaggerating.