Many people fail to notice that today’s advertisements are often deceitful and do whatever it takes to make us believe we need to buy the product being advertised. Based on this statement, one may wonder how advertisements can make us buy into their lies and what the effects of advertisements lying to people may have on society as a whole. In order to understand this concept and its implications, it is useful to analyze an example of an advertisement that tries to convince people to endorse in a brand by withholding the truth and committing fallacies in the process of doing so. The advertisement that will be discussed is part of a Chevron ad campaign titled “We Agree” that has come out in order to promote the company’s positive external affairs …show more content…
The “We Agree” ad campaign originally came out in response to “current critiques of oil companies” (“Posts Tagged”). According to the Rainforest Action Network, these critiques include the recent lawsuit filed by the Ecuadorian government against Chevron for “dumping 18 billion gallons of toxic oil pollution in the Ecuadorian Amazon” (“Posts Tagged”). Though the actual polluting of the rainforest took place about 18 years ago, it gained publicity within the past two years; and with BP’s oil spill disaster headlining the news at the time, Chevron saw the opportunity to distract viewers from the environmental devastation the company committed in Ecuador (“Posts Tagged”) by launching its “We Agree” ad campaign. The ad specifically being analyzed in this paper distracts its audience from Chevron’s corrupt activities in Nigeria and Ecuador by discussing positive things that Chevron has done for some of the communities that it has been a part of. The ad specifically mentions how it has “provided microloans to thousands of entrepreneurs in Angola, funded polytechnic universities in Indonesia, and committed $55 million to The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria” (Chevron). Yet, all these details are meant to distract consumers from the contentious issues that Chevron has been facing in recent years. These controversies include …show more content…
For women, the image evokes a sense of happiness and an understanding in the bond that the women in the image share. Revisiting the image, one can see that the women appear laughing and smiling together almost looking as if they have just shared a funny story or some gossip with each other. This in turn makes the female viewers feel empathetic because they can relate to the women in the photo. Thus, because these women are more prone to want to support the prosperity of these women they are more inclined to do so by supporting Chevron. However, some women may have recognized this fallacy of appeal to emotion and in a sense an appeal to the bond that all women share. They would have questioned, “How is Chevron making these women come closer in their bond of womanhood? Or, are women in Africa really smiling and laughing as a result of Chevron?” The answers to these questions are simply that Chevron is more than likely not making these women smile or have a closer relationship. In fact, if anything, some women in Africa may even be furious with Chevron for causing civil unrest in Nigeria (Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada). Consequently, it is noticeable how Chevron’s lies can begin to unfold as people question Chevron’s integrity
Exxon/Mobil, one of the nation’s leading oil producers, has its main refinery located in Beaumont, Texas. Each year, the residents of Beaumont/Port Arthur have to contend with the 39,000 pounds of pollution spewed each year by the Exxon refinery. Exxon’s emissions are 385% above the state refinery average. In 1999, the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Committee (TNRCC) allowed the plant to increase their emissions, without allowing the public to have a say in the matter. Interestingly, 95% of the people living near the plant are of African American descent and are in the poverty range. Some believe that this, along with the lack of education in the area, allows Exxon to get away with such high emissions. Residents in nearby neighborhoods have been complaining of headaches, nausea, eye, and throat irritation for years. Since 1997, Mobil has repeatedly violated health standards in its emissions of two key air pollutants: sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide, These “rotten egg” smells are so strong, one can smell it through a car driving past the refinery. After numerous complaints and one record of a refinery worker becoming unconscious because of the fumes, the EPA awarded Exxon with a $100,000 environmental justice grant in October of 1998. Hopefully, Exxon has put the money to good use and cleaned up their emissions.
Many accept that the sole legitimate purpose of a business is to maximize profit and shareholder value. In doing so there is a growing concern whether the companies have acted in a social and environmentally accepted manner (Brueckner 2011, 25). Chevron's vision, "to be the global energy company most admired for its people, partnership and performance" reflects the Chevron Way and they value to place the highest priority on the health and safety of their workforce and protecting the environment. They claim to proactively work towards improving their processes to reduce pollution and waste (Chevron 2012).
Visser, Nick. "Bono Takes On Oil Companies And Corporate Transparency During Clinton Global Initiative Panel." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 24 Sept. 2013. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.
The abovementioned process is influenced by the commoditisation of products and blurring of consumer's own perceptions of the companies' offering. In order to differentiate and position their products and/or services today's businesses employ advertising which is sometimes considered not only of bad taste, but also as deliberately intrusive and manipulative. The issue of bad advertising is topical to such extent that organisations like Adbusters have embraced the tactics of subvertising - revealing the real intend behind the modern advertising. The Adbusters magazine editor-in-chief Kalle Lason commented on the corporate image building communication activities of the big companies: "We know that oil companies aren't really friendly to nature, and tobacco companies don't really care about ethics" (Arnold, 2001). On the other hand, the "ethics and social responsibility are important determinants of such long-term gains as survival, long-term profitability, and competitiveness of the organization" (Singhapakdi, 1999). Without communications strategy that revolves around ethics and social responsibility the concepts of total quality and customer relationships building become elusive. However, there could be no easy clear-cut ethics formula of marketing communications.
Green washing: The disinformation disseminated by an organization so as to present an environmentally responsible public image. In order for big companies to stay on top of the market today, they are forced to think of advertising strategies to help their public image and advertise their product. Over the years the system has become very complex and also very questionable. Companies are willing to lie, change their logo, and sometimes even their company name just to keep their name and image clean in front of the public just to make sure that they are making their money. Green washing helps this by advertising to the public that they are environmentally supportive and responsible. Most people that are into buying “green products” do not even realize that the company they are buying from is green washing in some sort of way just so that they can attract attention to the public. Green washing companies may advertise that they are “eco-friendly”, but when it comes down to it, the facts hidden behind the curtains beg to differ. Just like in the green washing video we watched in class, the companies may look great compared to the worst companies, but that does not mean what they are doing is still productive for our environmental movement. One company that has been notorious for their green washing efforts for the past couple of decades is the Oil/energy company: British Petroleum a.k.a. Beyond Petroleum. They are one of the world’s largest leading oil companies who has also becoming a large energy supplying company with presence in petrochemicals, gas, and solar divisions. Over the past twenty years BP has been the cause of several deadly disasters in the oil business in the U.S. and around the world. Despite their green washing effor...
Baliunas’s association with think tanks does not make her scholarship automatically suspect. However, think tanks dwell in the grey area between scholarship and advocacy, and one must ask in which category Baliunas belongs. Think tanks cannot claim to be completely unbiased, because the majority of their funding comes from corporations, whose interests are not usually only academic, but also economic. Baliunas is an “Enviro-Sci Host” for TechCentralStation.com, a website sponsored by AT&T, ExxonMobil, General Motors Corporation, Intel, McDonalds, Microsoft, Nasdaq, National Semiconductor, PhRMA, and Qualcomm.
In John Grisham's The Pelican Brief, he uses symbolism to illustrate the blatant disregard large oil companies have for our environment. Fossil fuels, sometimes referred to as crude oil, include natural gas, petroleum, and coal. Fossil Fuels are produced when layers of decaying plants and animals have been exposed to a great amount of heat and pressure for millions of years under the earth’s surface (Lawrence). Fossil Fuels have many uses such as, powering vehicles, heating homes, creating electricity and are essential to manufacturing businesses. In 2012, nearly 82 percent of the world’s energy came from fossil fuels (Lawrence). In The Pelican Brief, Victor Mattiece is the owner of a large oil company. He drills
“The average American is exposed to some 500 ads daily from television, newspapers, magazines, radio, billboards, direct mail, and so on” (Fowles 2). In the lives of Americans, it is roughly impossible to avoid advertising. Advertisements are meant to capture the attention of a particular group of individuals; based on their age, desires, and motives. For example, the product Glucerna presented in a 2015 AARP magazine appeals to audiences dealing with diabetes. This 2015 AARP Glucerna advertisement attracts its audience through a variety of techniques which include satisfying the need to feel safe, aesthetic sensations, and glittering generalities.
In Ecuador, one billion of its rainforest’s oil was extracted by Texaco. Texaco used foreign land as a way to not practice the regulations that are enforced in the United States. After extraction, Texaco dumped the waste into the environment and it contaminated the rainforest. The waste is known to contain carcinogens and the carcinogens were released into the native people’s water supply. The native people became ill and many developed cancer. In addition, according to the film, this was done deliberately by Texaco to save money on
The Onion’s mock press release markets a product called MagnaSoles. By formulating a mock advertisement a situation is created where The Onion can criticize modern day advertising. Furthermore, they can go as far as to highlight the lucrative statements that are made by advertisements that seduce consumers to believe in the “science” behind their product and make a purchase. The Onion uses a satirical and humorous tone compiled with made up scientific diction to highlight the manner in which consumers believe anything that is told to them and how powerful companies have become through their words whether true or false.
...efit” (p. xx). More and more individuals will run into greenwashing ads from the news to even advertising; however it’s important to recognize the exaggeration, persuasiveness and omission of information in these ads. It’s evident that any form of media is filled with manipulation; pulling the perception, actions, fears, desires, and values out of the consumer. In our text Downing et al. begins saying, “empiricist communications research…are concerned more with questions, problems, and perspectives than with the mere recitation of detailed facts. Indeed, critical scholars would argue that facts by themselves are impossible to interpret if they are not placed into some model or theory about how the media and society work” (xxviii). I think this sums up why we all should be critical in a positive manner, and should use the theories that help us analyze media material.
BP is not alone with its marketing practices. General Electric (GE), an American firm and among the largest in the company, frequently exploits the green image to push its own brand. While on the cutting edge of developing renewable energy technologies, GE pushes its business at the expense of natural dignity. The earth becomes a giant problematic marble, hurtling through space, according to GE’s advertising, and GE knows how to fix
Boggs, Grace Lee, and Scott Kurashige. The next American revolution: Sustainable activism for the twenty-first century. University of California Pr, 2012. Print.
Businesses are in game in order to earn money and advertising is the strongest weapon that helps to sell a particular product . An advertisement can be harmful and misleading as well as helpful and beneficial . Advertising in ethics is an unclear concept , but truly the main goals of corporations should be avoid misleading their customers by setting up wrong expectations and to keep their current clients .The major problem with advertising is that most of them are misleading . Advertisements create an unrealistic and sometimes irrelevant impression of an any particular product. Unfortunately, often , consumers become the victims of their tricks .
When we look at Enbridge’s Line 9 and the pipeline carrying oil substance that it was not initially designed for we can apply the discipline of environmental sociology and dismember the different aspects and analyze them individually to understand how outcomes are produced. Environmental sociology, in regards to Line 9 addresses the social relations between some of the major towns and cities that the pipe runs through and explains how capitalism forms the base of environmental deterioration as financial income and wealth accumulation are often factors that receive more recognition. The familiar understanding of the Line 9 is that the government and city officials declare that it is safely distributing oil, when in reality, when we as sociologists observe and record that it is providing more societal concerns than it is claiming. This can be obtained through an examination of the numerous health affects that are presented through documentaries, such as residents suffering from seizures, and the arrest of a gentlemen who displayed signs of insanity and madness (Line 9, Film). It is at this point where it can be understood that environmental sociology helps us recognize human diversity and the challenges of living in a diverse world through the examination of human behavior and action towards environmental concerns. In the documentary, This Changes Everything, we are shown that fossil fuels are a growing concern that is attracting the attention of local residents who acknowledge that we are all sharing a common atmospheric space that needs attention from all individuals on all different social and economic levels (This Changes Everything, Film). When environmental