RCS 362 Blog 3- Ethics in Advertising

Ethics is defined as "a set of principles of right conduct." But, who makes up these principles and who defines what is right? Generally, people attribute these kind of duties to government or religious authorities, but who is the ruling voice for advertising? For the time being, as advertising is a fairly new concept compared to monogamy or the various other moral standards we might have, standards for advertising are still disputed and there is little to no regulation for it.

In my personal opinion, there is no need for regulation at this point. For example, alcohol is marketed heavily on celebration days such as 4th of July, but the problem arises when there are drunk drivers. The issue is then with the consumer drinking and then making the choice to drive. That is not the choice of the product, or the fault of the advertisement. In the same regard, fast food advertisements do not make people obese. The conscious choice to eat unhealthy foods on a frequent basis is the fault of the consumer, not the product. Each individual has the ability to choose to use or not use a product, as well as to look at or not look at an advertisement.

In the future, there may be need for extensive regulation of advertisement, but that is yet to be seen. However, I don't believe it will come to that extreme. I think good advertisements do not make consumers question whether or not the advertisement is ethical. I think there is an element of this with Abercrombie and Fitch and the like companies, but I think they stop at getting publicity and attention from consumers. I do not think for example they would put a poster of a naked person on display, nor do I think that Budweiser would have a campaign for under-aged drinking. I think there is a limit to where companies are willing to go with their advertising, and I think once they cross a certain boundary they would be losing costumers. This unseen boundary, I believe, IS what regulates advertising, therefore deferring the need for legal regulation.