Ethics & Advertising

Jamie Janda

jj643119@ohio.edu 

 

 

The current world we live in has changed in many different ways as we have entered a time where social media and technology dominate almost every aspect of our everyday lives. Companies, influencers, and many other organizations have the advertising world at their fingertips and can promote themselves to us using electronic advertisements across tons of different platforms. With more efficiency in advertising comes issues and concerns involving ethics when promoting material or products. The Public Relations Society of America provides a fairly detailed and easy to understand ethical guideline for journalists in a time where direct advertisement to us is larger than ever, it is crucial that these guidelines are understood and followed.

 

I believe that PRSA’s guidelines are effective in some ways in today’s world and fit the current mold, but I do not believe they are always being adhered to and followed correctly. It can be difficult when there is so much being advertised and at such a constant pace to always make sure everything is honest and accurate. From personal experience with social media advertisements, I do not often see where sources are cited and it can be difficult to tell what is true or not. I also believe many advertisers and influencers do not adhere to the concept of disclosing all information when promoting something. Many advertisements are also guilty of being dishonest and deceptive when promoting. Pictured below is an advertisement for a fat burning/weight loss supplement called “Hydroxycut.”

 

The advertisement only makes note of the positive effective the supplement may have, but does not completely disclose all of the harmful side effects that could come along with it or the possibility of it not working. In 2017,  several lawsuits were filed against the company  and its product for making “false and misleading claims about its effectiveness.” In this case, as well as many others, lawsuits could have been avoided if the company had followed the ethical guidelines in place in regards to both honesty and transparency. I truly believe the ethics and values in place are strong and play an extremely important part of journalism. In the case with Hydroxycut, it could have been a win-win for all involved if they would have stuck to the rules. When they tried to find ways around it, it blew up in their faces and costed them in the end. Going forward, advertisers should work to focus on quality of content versus quantity. As I mentioned earlier, advertising in the world we live in now is so constant, but with that comes a specific lack of quality.