Ethics and Advertising

610 Words2 Pages

We have a lot of important issues today that are unprecedented in history due to technological advancement of our age, such as: global warming, ecological pollution, DNA modification and patenting of crops, meat industry, and the list goes on. All these issues have to be addressed and decided upon with as much ethical prowess and unity of opinion among people as possible. Public opinion is a huge power and ability to sway it one way or the other can make or break a presidency, a corporate monopoly, domestic and foreign policies, or pass laws. Advertising is a very large omnipresent industry, whose sole purpose is to skillfully grab our attention and shape our decisions, thus manipulating public opinions. According to communications professor Joseph Turow, by targeting certain niches among consumers based on lifestyles, advertising segregates already diverse community even further, thus making it impossible for people to come to a consensus on critical issues, which demand our attention without delay (Goshgarian and Krueger 297). Therefore, it is important to consider how ethical advertising tactics really are, and whether it is necessary to create adequate regulations in order to control the industry.

Multimedia telecommunication technologies today have reached a point where sponsors and organizations are able to receive feedback from their viewers and readers through their choices. News programs like CNN even offer to vote by sending text message to a certain number in order to choose which news piece is going to be shown next. With such advancements in technology, wouldn’t it be logical to assume that decision making by the public has become a more coherent and straightforward process, where any particular issue can be ...

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... and distraction is the affect that modern advertising achieves among consumers, while pressing issues such as healthcare crisis need our attention and erudition, then can modern advertising be considered unethical? To simplify the question of ethics, let’s put it this way: when one is about to get hit by a train while another is trying to divert his attention in order to sell him a pretzel, is selling an ethical thing to do considering that distraction endangers the potential buyer? Does he really need that pretzel, or should he get off the tracks as soon as possible?

Works Cited

Goshgarian, Gary, and Kathleen Krueger, ed. Dialogues: An Argument Rhertoric and Reader. Longman: Pearson, 2011. Print.

Turow, Joseph. “Targeting a New World.” Goshgarian and Krueger 294-97.

Rushkoff, Douglas. “Which One of These Sneakers Is Me?” Goshgarian and Krueger 298-301.

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