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Ethics in the Digital Media Age

November 27, 2017
by Xiola Jensen

Ethics and morality continue to be important issues within today’s society, especially in advertising and promotions. As marketers, it is important to consider the power and responsibility associated with advertising, and contemplate how certain ads will be perceived by the public. Companies that do not place high value on ethical conduct tend to be criticized and suffer when it comes to sales and reputation.

There are several principles that should be understood by advertisers as they plan their campaigns. For example, companies should always be honest and have the public’s best interests at heart. All information involved with a product should be disclosed, such as payment, endorsements, etc. Products sold should not be harmful and should follow federal, state and local laws. Customer privacy should not be violated at any point and their decision to provide or not provide certain information should be clear and respected. Overall, companies should be morally responsible and ethical dilemmas should be discussed privately.

There is much criticism of the nature of marketing as it is. For example, many people do not trust ads, believing that that are simply exaggerations to sell a product. People also criticize advertising for being offensive and distasteful. Commercials can be invasive, boring and inappropriate, especially when they involve contraceptives or personal care items. This category includes sexual appeals and shock advertising which often causes trouble for a brand. This is concerning because many people also show concern about how advertisements influence our nation, especially when it comes to normalizing something that society has deemed inappropriate. Advertisements are also known to increase materialism and encourage people to buy things they don’t need, and they often show poor representation of minority groups. Marketers must take all of this into consideration as they decide how to promote products/services because there is great power behind media advertising and it should be used wisely and ethically.

Although a company should not be completely motivated by profits, acting ethically is the best option for all businesses in the long run because society values morality. Companies that aren’t honest or ethical can receive negative feedback which damages the whole brand and it is often hard to recover. By doing the right thing, companies are able to develop a positive relationship with the public which is extremely important. Good reputation and customer satisfaction are key factors in a successful business because happy clients are more likely to be brand loyal and recommend the company to friends and loved ones, which is one of the strongest forms of marketing.

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The Ethical Dilemma of Hollywood

November 27, 2017November 27, 2017
by JamesGarvin

Ethics. Ah yes, the word that assumes people should practice good morals and treat you right. Why would someone take advantage of you or be biased towards you when you know you can do the job as good as anyone? Why would a company cheat, lie, or risk your safety to make a profit when you know they should already have a product they are proud of so they don’t have to do those things to get ahead? Well hopefully some examples I use from the movie business explain that humans can be selfish and in turn sometimes negatively effect the welfare of others just to benefit themselves.

Ethics if used right, should affect you for the better and cause you to succeed in your work affairs. It is interesting to see such a broad topic be narrowed down into dozens of subcategories due to people coming up with more and more ways to disenfranchise or hurt others, human and animal. Most happenings from the use of bad ethics in the film industry are extreme cases because there is always so much at stake and it’s the go big or go home mentality that tends to have people skip corners to get ahead or meet a deadline. I am of course for abiding to harsh ethical standards for the betterment of the cast and crew, but sometimes doing the “right” or as I like to say the “expected” thing is not black or white.

Ethics in regards to equality for all has had a rough reputation in Hollywood and for good reason. One of the most recent controversies has been the #OscarSoWhite phenomenon which was when no minorities were nominated for Best Director or Actor/Actress for 2015 or 2016. Now I’m not saying there weren’t good performances by Blacks and Hispanics, but do you really think that the academy would want to risk a controversy and potential loss of viewership for two years? But suddenly in 2017 every acting category was recognized with a person of color to total seven minority nominations which matches the nominations from 2007. Look, I’m not saying that Hollywood isn’t racist. Everyone has racist thoughts once in a while, which is wrong, but I am saying the academy did not start the year by saying “You know what, let’s not nominate any individual from a minority group in certain categories for the Oscars this year. That’s a great idea! You know what, I have a better idea! Let’s go for two years!” If anything, Hollywood is at and has been at the forefront of the human equality movement for years now. All Hollywood cares about these days is money, since it is a business, and they will do whatever’s necessary to ensure the biggest profit margin. And let’s look on the plus side, Leo won best actor that year, which let’s face it…it’s about time.

There is plenty more I wanted to talk about, but it seems I am at my word count for this assignment, so let me close with a quote from the much loved Tom Hanks when he called for a “code of ethics” in Hollywood, saying “The aspect of ‘Oh this is the Hollywood culture’ … Anywhere there are people in power who think it’s OK to manipulate those under them in a sexual manner under the guise of either helping or hindering their career—that exists absolutely everywhere in Western society—actually, everywhere in the world…That’s patently wrong.” Amen my man, amen.

http://www.ntd.tv/2017/10/25/tom-hanks-calls-for-code-of-ethics-in-hollywood-and-everywhere-else/

Oscars: Record Six Black Actors Nominated, Diversity Improves After Controversy

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The Fine Line of Ethics

November 27, 2017
by Emmie Bish

With the world getting smaller through means of technology and screen interface, what people see matters. An advertiser must take into account all perspectives of society when deciding what type of media campaigns they put out. Digital media has taken over the modern age. Advertising specifically carries great power and influence over their audiences. Throughout history we can see the types of influence media can play in a culture.

The 2016 Presidential Election proved the influence digital media can have. Millions of dollars were put into strategically placed ads that either slandered or promoted a candidate. As a result the political atmosphere ignited social media platforms. Digital media allowed the candidates to put more out in the public eye than past elections and at a higher rate. Coincidently this election also questioned the ethics of some candidates for the type of ads they put out. Such an ad was put out by the NRA critiquing Hillary Clinton for things outside the campaign realm. As someone that can greatly influence society it is important to follow a code of ethics meant to maintain integrity of all parties.

(Photo Courtesy of: https://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/33398/donald-trump-vs-hillary-clinton-the-election-no-one-wants/)

In order to remain ethical in the advertising world, you must be able to establish a fine line between ethical and unethical advertising. An advertising goal is to promote the product in a positive light that follows the company’s ethical standards. However, if that fine line is crossed by said company, I would stand by my own ethical code and act accordingly. In order to make these ethical advertising decisions, all marketers should adhere to some rules to ensure they don’t cross that line.

The most important aspect of advertising ethically is honesty. Honesty encompasses having the right intentions and steering clear of any hidden agendas. Honesty also means you must make sure you’re never misrepresenting any parts of a product or hiding any negative aspects of the product. A rule I will implement for myself is to look at each ad produced with a level of sensitivity. No ads should be released that intentionally hurt the feelings of anyone. Despite personal preferences or beliefs, all ads should be respectful and sensitive to whatever audience they may reach.

Pictured below is a digital advertisement for Nivea. The tagline reads “White is Purity” which received quite the backlash. Their caption, “Keep it clean, keep bright. Don’t let anything ruin it, #Invisible.” Many people said that the advertisement was racist since it promoted whiter skin. The ad was quickly removed after the brutal criticism. Ethically, this ad violates my standing on sensitivity and passively promotes a specific race. The advertiser who published this ad did not take into account the holistic interpretation of the work, and because of that, they were instantly scrutinized.

(Photo Courtesy of: https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/590/cpsprodpb/170A/production/_95489850_fddeada1-d7dc-4927-bca3-edf8a2f5821e.jpg)

It is clear the impact digital media can play in society. Advertising encompasses many parts of society and should be given the respect it deserves. The power of an advertisement should have to pass a check list of ethical requirements. With digital advertising comes the potential to reach millions of people with each message being sent. It is up to each marketer or advertiser to make sure their work aligns with their ethical standards.

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What are my stands on ads in the digital…

November 26, 2017
by Tobias Steinhilber

Have you ever thought about if or how you get influenced by advertising? This is a pretty current topic, especially in the relation of the huge debate about the election of Donald Trump as the President of the United States and how people got influenced by advertising. But this is only one example where advertising was used to influence people. But what about you? Are you sure that all of your opinions and values have come from you or did you get influenced by advertising without knowing about it? When I look in my closet or at the things I own, or think about the goals I have, I’m pretty sure I could not completely escape the influence of advertising. This fact gives me enough reason today to write about the ethics and limitations of marketing in the digital media age.

Advertisements and the truth

The first topic I want to talk about is relationship between advertising and the truth. This topic sounds like a really easy one, but that is up for debate. Do you think a commercial should only present the truth about a product or service and that deceptive data or intimations should not get included in a commercial? I think most of the people would agree to this statement. But is that how TV commercials or ads in newspapers work these days? To answer this question let’s have a look at a Gatorade commercial:

This commercial shows in a smart but clear way that Gatorade can make the difference between you and your opponent on the field. Now most of the people would say what a nice commercial there is nothing to say against it, but think about what we said before. We said commercials have to tell you the truth and they should not mislead you in any way. But the truth is the United States have a tremendous problem with obesity and soft drinks like Gatorade are to blame for that. A fact that supports this statement is that several big cities in the United States want to get rid of these 16 once beverages you can by in many fast food restaurants. The reason for that is, that these cities know soft drinks are to blame for the overweight of so many people. I personally think that Gatorade has to talk about that in every commercial they show! It is not enough to just say on their webpage:

“While each athlete has individual fueling and hydration needs based his/her physiology and performance goals, G Series products are formulated to meet the needs of all types of athletes. The amount consumed will depend on various factors such as sweat rate, type of sport/activity (team sports versus endurance), and overall goals.”

I personally think that this kind of advertising misleads many people. But where I definitely draw a line is on advertisements or ads that show professional bodybuilders, which get paid to show to people that a special protein or weight gainer is good. These kind of advertises impart to the customers that when you are going to use this kind of product you can build as much muscle as I did. This kind of message is only a really little part of the truth. The bodybuilder in the following commercial shows the people how to use a special mass gainer. The interesting thing about him is that he admitted to his fans that he used growth hormones and steroids over a decade to get in the shape he has. But the commercial still mediates that he got big, because of this kind of product. In my opinion that is unethical and the whole commercial advertises in a bad taste. Another fact that shows how bad this kind of advertisement is, is the fact that Rich Piana died a couple of weeks ago. That shows another time that you have to take possibly illegal substances to get a body like he had and they can lead to a very young death. Rich Piana died when he was 46 years old.

Are companies that are brands like McDonalds or Gatorade good for your society?

Another question that arises is if it is even good for a society that companies or brands like McDonalds, Gatorade and Coca Cola are trying to sell more products every year. Actually, it would be an even better sign if a society is known for eating healthy than being known for these kinds of companies. But that is the economy we are living in. We are producing products that are unhealthy, unnecessary and bad for the nature, but we earn a lot of money with it. And advertising ensures that we are happy or convinced in this madness.

A very interesting quote I read says: “Despite what some people think, advertising can’t make you buy something you don’t need.” This is a very interesting quote, because many people use it as a respond to the claim that advertising makes you buy products you don’t need. But I personally think that if there is a product that I really need, why do you even advertise it? The only reason for that could be, that you are trying to sell me a product that costs more than it is really worth it.

Does advertising influence our goals in life?

Also, a very interesting question is, how advertisements influence our goals in life. If you look at the picture of the Time Square on the top, don’t you think that this environment influences us? If you see so many ads and commercials every day, of course you get influenced by it. The fear that I have is that we are already so influenced by the media that we do not even recognize it any more. I personally think that many people have the desire to become rich or wealthy, just because the commercials told us to. That you are only happy if you can afford all of these products.

But that’s not all I think that advertising also is responsible for a shift in the value of the society. Advertising lets us strive for things we do not need and it encourages us to spend money on products that are completely overpriced. Instead of caring about the lives of other people, advertising leads us to just focus on our own and advertises egoism. You could say people are too busy to care about their fellow man, because they have to make sure to get the latest Luis Vuitton bag.

Another fact that underlines my fear is that many companies don’t only advertise their products anymore. Nowadays companies advertise a whole lifestyle. They promote a special way of how you should life your live and what kind of products support this way. A couple of years ago people went to church to get to know what the right way of live is. Now you don’t have to do that anymore, the companies tell you what is right and they show it to you so often, that even the stupidest person gets it.

What kind of responsibilities does a marketed have?

The last topic I want to talk about is what kind of responsibility’s a marketer has when you consider the tremendous influence and power commercials have. What kind of rules should a marketer consider when he does his work?

To answer this question, I want to mention that to become a marketer in the first place you have to study. I think most of the marketers out there have a college degree. Why is that important to know? This is important to know, because it gives us the chance to put ourselves in the position of a person who wants to become a marketer. Just imagine a person has just finished college and starts his first job. While he (or she) is working on a project that he considers as unethical or as a commercial which promotes a product that is controversial like cigarettes, he starts to question his ethical convictions. If he comes to the conviction that this kind of commercials are unethical, do you think he will quit his job? Is it even possible for him to quit his job considering the information that he just finished college, which means that he has to repay a tremendous debt? What I am trying to say is that even if he doesn’t want to make advertises like that he has to make them, because of his debts. This means that most of the marketers cannot decide if they only want to make ads that are okay for them.

Anyway, from my point of view, a marketer should comply with the following rules:

An advertisement should never insult or belittle people. Neither where they are from nor what kind of religion they practice etc.
Advertises should only accessible to people that are able to understand the purpose of ads and the target audience of advertising should only be people who know how to handle it
Ads should present the product or service in a realistic way. That means exaggerations, unrealistic representations or any kind of misleading information are not allowed
That advertising may only be within the laws is self-evident for me
Advertising should in no way glorify or praise materialism
Advertising for products or services that are detrimental to the society as a whole should be prohibited (ads for products that are responsible for the climate change or products that are to blame for the resources wear)
A marketer should only work within his scope of authority power delegated by the principal.
Ads must be clearly recognizable, so that people can distinguish between articles or news and advertising
Advertising should stay out of politics completely
Marketers should be able to say their true opinion to their co-workers and they should tell them the situation how it really is and don’t mislead their colleges.
It should not be allowed for marketers to exploit people’s weaknesses (such as the desire to be happy or to address deeper problems in people so that they buy a product)

Work Cited

http://rsm-scholl.de/cmss/14_15/Thema01/?Gliederung___2._Was_ist_Werbung%3F

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/27/nyregion/city-loses-final-appeal-on-limiting-sales-of-large-sodas.html

http://people.com/bodies/rich-piana-obituary/

http://www.fides.org/de/news/59804-AMERIKA_USA_Armut_Missbrauch_und_familiaere_Konflikte_zwingen_Kinder_zu_einem_Leben_auf_der_Strasse#.Wg2moYhrxEY

https://www.pinterest.de/cecitatschner/publicidad-publicity-werbung/

Advertising

Pinterest Ad Success Stories

November 26, 2017
by MacKayla Smirga

Like most social media platforms, Pinterest offers the option for businesses with an account to advertise their content. Promoted pins work the same as organic ones, except they are shared with a larger audience. The natural design of the advertisement, making it feel like an ordinary pin, along with targeting to the right views, has been seen to increase engagement by an average 28%. Each type of business has their own unique way of using Pinterest to connect to their audience.

Advertising

Comparing Reese Advertisements on Pinterest and Facebook

November 26, 2017
by Anna Ferri

The Hershey’s Company has an incredible amount of brands to market and advertise for within the company, giving great variety (and sometimes similarity) with the campaigns that they run. The first campaign that I analyzed for this post was a campaign done on Facebook (and Instagram) for the new Reese Snack Mix, called Reese Mix. This new product by The Hershey’s Company is a sweet mix of Reese Peanut Butter Cups minis, Reese’s Pieces candies, along with pretzels and peanuts. As a whole, this using this network for this campaign increased the ad recall by an impressive 28 points. It was also able to increase Reese Mix brand awareness by 11 points, making this a very successful advertising campaign.

Advertising

Under Armor and Tommy Hilfiger Utilize Instagram Ad Targeting…

November 26, 2017November 26, 2017
by Bryan Crawford

Over the past decade, technology has really taken off. We have phones that can listen and react to our commands, devices that can shop for us just by using our voice, and so much more. Social media has also taken off in the same time frame. People stay connected to the outside world through the use of Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, among others.

Advertising

FENTY Makeup Commercial Analysis

November 26, 2017
by Kelly O'Donnell

Fenty Beauty by Rihanna is a makeup line that focuses on providing products that work for all skin types. The over minute long commercial advertisement displays models of many different races, cultures and skin types showing off their makeup. The Fenty Beauty line is unique in the beauty industry due to the fact they have such a wide variety of colors of makeup as well as undertones in skin pigments. The commercial is also unique compared to other advertisements in the beauty industry because of the models and style of showing its products.

The Fenty line is able to put their mission statement in every advertisement because Rihanna, Fenty Beauty’s mission statement reads “Rihanna launched a makeup line “so that women everywhere would be included,” focusing on a wide range of traditionally hard-to-match skin tones, creating formulas that work for all skin types, and pinpointing universal shades.”. Rihanna has been able to design her line to not only include a wide variety of skin tones, specifically darker skin tones but also accommodate lighter skin tones with yellow, red and warmer pigments. The product line is designed to celebrate all skin types and inherently promotes the company’s values and goals.

See Ad

This commercial is unique in the fact that it is focusing on the models expressing themselves through the makeup rather than just pushing the product in its passaging. The beauty industry can often push the unrealistic benefits of makeup and advertise the outcome of the product as the main goal of the advertisement. Fenty Beauty selling point is inclusion, it doesn’t need to offer unrealistic beauty expectations or standards. The commercial advertisement highlights inclusivity which is the main selling point, this line is designed to have the makeup fit hard to match skin tones. One of the main messages Fenty Beauty as a company sends is being comfortable in your own skin, and having a makeup brand that acknowledges that all skin tones are worth creating, producing and advertising.

The Beauty Industry has a long history of having a very narrow standard of beauty, putting lighter skin tones on a pedestal and completely ignoring darker skin tones. Commercials often show trends of completely changing ones appearance by wearing bright vibrant colors or adding fake enhancers like fake eye lashes or lip plumper. The Fenty Beauty commercial shows more natural looking makeup, no crazy colors or tons of makeup. The natural look highlights the ideal of each skin tone being beautiful and the Fenty Beauty line is designed to highlight that.

The models within the commercial also sends a very loud and clear message to the Beauty industry. There are women of all shapes and sizes, ethnic backgrounds and races. There are women of color with all different hair types and different aspects of beauty that have been frowned upon, down to a purposeful glimpse of gapped teeth. Fenty Beauty is clearly sending the message that their brand is rejecting the construct of what is beautiful designed by the industry.

Advertising

Maybelline Fit Me Foundation Advertising Campaign Analysis

November 26, 2017November 26, 2017
by Kelly O'Donnell

This Maybelline magazine advertisement is a promotion for their new Fit Me liquid foundation. The product benefit is finding a product that will “Fit” your skin tone. The image shows three different models wearing the foundation and then a display of the product in the bottle, alongwith a text explaining the benefits. Maybelline is selling a product promising that it will “Let the real you come through” meaning skin tone. The Beauty industry has strayed away from the bright colors and dramatic looks; it has turned to a natural look. The Beauty industry is following society’s turn towards self-love and a more realistic beauty standard. Maybelline is following the change and has chosen to put the message of all skin being beautiful.