Free «Advertisements and Ethics» Essay Sample

Most advertisements nowadays are created to be in tandem with the motives and desires of the audience. Many tell consumers that they will be able to satisfy some of their most important desires if they purchase or use these consumer products. In my view, this characterization of the ads is not bad. Advertisers have a best chance of attracting more customers if they give form to the deep-lying desires, and also picture states of being that most people would want to identify with. I think it is the way humans are, that you would get their attention if you touch on what concerns them most. It is evident that humans walk around with urges and motives like ambitions, lust, tenderness that seeks some kind of resolution.

Many advertisements seem to connect a link between the product and emotional appeal. For example, Cadillac is associated with country clubs, coke with a smile, Miller Beer with comradeship, and Salem cigarettes with mountains. The real essence behind advertising should be to create an emotional appeal, which if caught in the mind, goes along with the product being advertised. These emotional appeals do not necessarily mean the adverts are arousing them, for example, ads that explicitly show nudity would be non-appealing. I think most ads try to say that one would be a centre of attention just like the person in the advert. A good example the Brooke Shields in Calvin Klein. The need for affiliation is also a good thing to show what most Americans lack. While most Americans would want to succeed alone, the need to associate with others in an advert is not a bad idea at all.

There are also those ads that bring out the need for prominence. It is an in-born thing in every individual to be admired or respected by fellow comrades. Most people would be evoked by desires for prestige and high social status. An advertisement like that of Volvo does depict a Volvo parked beside a steeplechase. The bottom line in these advertisements is to satisfy the inner desires of people that would not be said in the open.

For a long time, there has been debate concerning the ethical issues concerning advertisements. While it is evident that advertisements affect people’s lives and the way they would react, I don’t feel it is morally objectionable for them to catch consumer’s inner desires and appeals. However, I hold the view that moral issues should be very important in marketing. In my view, humans have inner desires that have the need to be satisfied, otherwise they would explode. These adverts play a key role in promising satisfaction and hence play a very important role in the society.