Is the truth enough in advertising and public relations?

Chad Williams

cmwilliams3110@gmail.com

In the US, the Federal Trade Commission is in charge of laws related to false advertising.  Several states also have agencies and laws in place to protect consumers from misleading advertisements.

Picture source: ftc.gov

Advertising, strategic communications, and public relations are always leveraging new means of reaching audiences and are commonly one of the first areas to experiment with changes in technology. 

Blogging 

I believe blogging began mostly as a communication device to express ideas and opinions on more of a personal nature. People wanting to become a part of a community. 

Overtime, people and companies started to realize the reach of blogging. Advertisers, on their own, or with full participation of bloggers developed means to capitalize on this new technology front. 

However, the Federal Trade Commission started to see a problem: bloggers and companies were now forming relationships that benefited everyone except the consumer.  

The consumer had no way of questioning the amount of truth they placed in the blogs. They were not being told of the relationships and could not form protective assumptions. 

The Federal Trade Commission decided to make changes in  advertising that had remained unchanged since the 1980s. New technologies like the internet and subsequently the social media were changing the landscape of advertisements that required new laws and guidelines. 

Guidelines involving endorsements and online advertising and marketing were quickly developed to try and keep up with new technological opportunities. Guidances were developed such as Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers and other tools like this Youtube Video were developed by the commission to help bloggers and other social media avenues meet new rules and guidelines. 

Ultimately, all the guides and tools were created to help protect and allow for informed consumers. If companies had used the new technology ethically and applied standing rules and guidance to emerging communications, maybe the commission would not have been forced to make changes. 

In my opinion, the ethical companies would have advised the bloggers on how to reveal their relationships.  The advertisers should have developed the tools on how to be truthful and transparent.

Public Relations

In the same time frame that the Federal Trade Commission was dealing with changes in communications technology, public relations associations such as the Public Relations Society of America were facing similar challenges. 

The PRSA was tasked with the difficult job of promoting the trust worthiness of public relations operations in government, big business, and non-profits across the world. These organizations were no longer reliant on the news media or traditional avenues to get out the message. They could now reach out directly. 

One of the tools for defending public relations, the PRSA had in its toolbox a well defined code of ethics. In times of rough waters, the PRSA used this code of ethics to show how public relations professionals , especially its members, how they are supposed to act in the public interest. 

I assume it has been a difficult time for the PRSA leadership team and all public relations professionals that follow the code of ethics. When the White House press secretary openly states they must tell small white lies and in response to that a LA Times journalist openly calls "PR" professional liars, it is easy to see the amount of charged emotions that the public relations profession renders the communications industry.