Ethics and New Types of Advertising

Anna Azallion
aa384716@ohio.edu

Advertising seems to be one of those things few, if any, can escape in our ever so digital 21st-century world. Like everything else in the world, there are ethical considerations when it comes to advertising and since we can't seem to escape advertising this affects us all.

I'm not an advertising major, but it doesn't take one to realize some of the ethical challenges advertisers face: how to sell a brand/product while remaining truthful, labeling all ad content as an ad and keeping the public's safety/interests in mind when it comes to advertising content.

Did I get those right?

I'd probably have to ask someone in the advertising industry to be sure but based on the ethical guidelines from the Institute for Advertising Ethics, I think I did.

Advertising has become pretty standardized in its formats and mediums so it's pretty easy for the average TV/magazine/internet/etc. consumer to know when an ad is an ad, so I'm guessing advertisers from ad agencies have figured out a pretty good way to follow that ethical guideline. With the ever-growing popularity of influencers (YouTubers, bloggers, Instagrammers, etc.) there's a whole new category of advertisers.

When you really think about it, Influencers who make money through brand sponsorships are advertisers.

Source: socialmediaweek.org

I'm not an influencer and I've never been sponsored by a brand, but from watching different YouTubers who are influencers and have been sponsored by brands, I think the way these brand sponsorships work, at least sometimes, is like this:

1. Someone in a PR role for the brand reaches out to an influencer or their manager to set up a brand deal.
2. They set up some sort of agreement laying out what sort of content the influencer is going to produce endorsing the brand and what payment the influencer will receive in return. 

I'm sure there's a lot more that goes into it, but I think that's the general gist of things. 

The point is, instead of a company paying money for a commercial or Facebook ad, they're paying money for someone with influence over their following to advertise for their brand, usually by talking about how much they love the product/brand in a YouTube video or posting pictures on Instagram with the product/incorporating the brand. 

Source: Alisha Marie via YouTube

This new type of advertising brings in a whole new job title that has to think about the ethics of their actions when doing things for these brand deals. This has also become pretty standard, but these influencers need to mark their videos/pictures/other content as an advertisement to be ethical. They have to concern themselves with the truth of what they're saying and keep the safety/interests of their followers and others who might see their content in mind. 

I'd say a lot of influencers have figured out how to do these things and when they don't the public seems to call them out on it and react negatively. 

Just as being an influencer wasn't a feasible job or even a term people used 5-10 years ago, some of the ethical challenges advertisers face didn't exist 5-10 years ago. But even as advertising evolves, the core ethical principles remain the same, even if the challenges in following them change.