Man in Black
Advertising harmful products
One ethical issue in the realm of advertising is the concept of advertising potentially harmful products. The most controversial product in this category is tobacco, particularly cigarettes. Alcohol products and over-the-counter or prescription drugs are also prevalent in the world of marketing, each one with distinct histories and restrictions of their own.
Tobacco advertising has changed drastically over the years, mainly in terms of an increase in regulation. Cigarette commercials were prohibited from airing on television long ago. Ads that are still able to run elsewhere are not allowed to “glorify” the act of smoking, and they cannot use images or tactics that obviously target children as an audience. They are also legally required to display the Surgeon General’s warnings about the dangers of smoking. But regardless of these rules, tobacco companies still manage to successfully advertise their products, whether ethically or otherwise.
Advertisers still argue that their ads for these products do not influence people to start using their product; rather they only boost the sales of their specific brand name in a market that already exists and remains relatively constant. In other words, “our ads do not make people start smoking, they just make current smokers think of Marlboro when they go to buy their cigarettes!” However, studies have proven that is not the case and advertisements do, in fact, play a role in influencing young people to start consuming these products. A prime example of this is the Joe Camel advertising campaign, which was secretly aimed at kids in Camel’s effort to get young people to start smoking.
Only recently (as a result of several legal battles) did cigarette companies become more sensitive to the young audience and, as a result, pulled their ads from magazines with a considerable number of young readers. This is a step in the right direction, but advertisers still manage to increase the consumption of
One ethical issue in the realm of advertising is the concept of advertising potentially harmful products. The most controversial product in this category is tobacco, particularly cigarettes. Alcohol products and over-the-counter or prescription drugs are also prevalent in the world of marketing, each one with distinct histories and restrictions of their own.
Tobacco advertising has changed drastically over the years, mainly in terms of an increase in regulation. Cigarette commercials were prohibited from airing on television long ago. Ads that are still able to run elsewhere are not allowed to “glorify” the act of smoking, and they cannot use images or tactics that obviously target children as an audience. They are also legally required to display the Surgeon General’s warnings about the dangers of smoking. But regardless of these rules, tobacco companies still manage to successfully advertise their products, whether ethically or otherwise.
Advertisers still argue that their ads for these products do not influence people to start using their product; rather they only boost the sales of their specific brand name in a market that already exists and remains relatively constant. In other words, “our ads do not make people start smoking, they just make current smokers think of Marlboro when they go to buy their cigarettes!” However, studies have proven that is not the case and advertisements do, in fact, play a role in influencing young people to start consuming these products. A prime example of this is the Joe Camel advertising campaign, which was secretly aimed at kids in Camel’s effort to get young people to start smoking.
Only recently (as a result of several legal battles) did cigarette companies become more sensitive to the young audience and, as a result, pulled their ads from magazines with a considerable number of young readers. This is a step in the right direction, but advertisers still manage to increase the consumption of