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Ethics in advertising can sometimes be borderline between what is right or wrong. There are
rules and guidelines in place for the advertising companies to follow so they don't upset or
offend any viewers. But, what is as unethical advertising? Well, using advertising in a way
that is misleading and uses false claims to get the public to buy the product they are trying
to sell is unethical, because of its misuse of the information that is presented to the public.
This article will show what is seemed to be unethical in advertising.

Ads that are used in the political realm can sometimes be misleading and use false
information or bend the truth to get the public to sway their votes towards them. An ad in
the campaign for the election between McCain and Obama used an ad with misleading
information. Such as, saying that a developer received $20 million in tax payers money, but
the truth was there was no money received. This can be considered unethical as they are
giving false information to the public, which is done a lot in political advertisement.

An advertisement that is made should be able to identify what the targeted audience is. But,
sometimes this is not always done. When advertising towards children it should be clear
what the product is and what is for. As children can sometime misrepresent and not quite
understand what the ad is saying, especially under the age of 12. However, some might say
that it is unethical to target children under the age of 12 as, they may not understand what
an ad is and view it in a way that they are not supposed to. However advertisement is
constantly been shown for children like in campaigns for beverages and food in posters at
schools and some debate if advertising in schools is unethical.

Just like advertisements in commercial or billboards, the internet has its own issues in
advertising as well. As they can sometimes promote untrue claims and when this happens it
can have a negative impact on their product and brand. There are ethical guidelines for
problematic ads that can look an article, on the internet. Those ads can be misinterpreted
with editorial content needs to be labeled, that is an advertisement. Otherwise it unethical
when this isn't displayed. Using advertising in this way is misleading and it shows that view
the consumer as naive, which is unethical.

By not putting the right amount of information makes the public believe something in a
different way because of what has been said. This may lead them into a wrong direction and
buying a product that is not right for them.

Using out right lies in advertising is part of unethical advertising and doesn't follow the
guideline practices that they have to follow when demonstrating a product to the consumer.
Lying about what the product, gives false information and makes them believe that
something is true when it is not. Which should be avoided in advertising as it will eventually
give them a bad reputation, because of its misuse of information.

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Deceptive advertising, sometimes referred to as false advertising, is the practice of making claims or
statements in commercial advertising that is untrue, greatly exaggerated, or unsupportable by the
advertised product or service. While false advertising can indicate that something was done accidentally,
deceptive advertising is typically reserved for advertising that is purposely false or incorrect. This can
include print advertising, television and radio commercials, offers made through the Internet, and just
about every other type of advertising available.

O The role of advertising in our free market society is to help develop products that
satisfy consumer demands and to spur effective price competition. Advertising
informs consumers about the availability of products, their features, and price
information. Such information is vital to our competitive process. Advertisers employ
unfair business practices in order to gain an unfair advantage above their
competitors and to deceive consumers. The following essay examines the common
types of deceptive acts and practices involved and the federal government agency
that regulates advertisers. Government regulation provides a delicate balance
between free business enterprise and consumer protection.

Businesses rely on advertising as a vital communication tool to reach potential


consumers. Important information about the company and product features is
conveyed to consumers in an attempt to offer them products that satisfy their wants
and needs. In addition to print, radio, and television, laws governing advertising also
cover signs, billboards, pamphlets, pictures or emblems, and direct and oral
advertisements to consumers. To a certain degree advertising is protected by our
courts under "commercial freedom of speech" guidelines. However, the information
conveyed to consumers must be perceived as "truthful" in order to be protected
against arbitrary government intrusion.

Consumers are protected from advertisers that intentionally or inadvertently mislead


in promoting their products. Two main areas that consumers are protected from are
false advertising and unfair acts or practices. False advertising is when an
advertisement is misleading through a made or suggested statement, word, device,
sound, or omission of material facts with respect to consequences which may result
from the use of the product. This definition pertains to food, drugs, devices, and
cosmetics. In addition, an advertisement can be viewed as being a false or
misleading representation because of an implied representation.

Generally speaking an act or practice is considered to be unfair when it causes injury


to consumers, injury to public policy or when it is based on immoral, unethical, or
unscrupulous nature of the practice. A good example of how advertising leads to
injury to consumers was when regulators decided that it was unfair for cigarette
manufacturers to omit the health risks of cigarette smoking. This led to legislation
requiring health warnings in cigarette advertising.

The Federal Trade Commission is the federal government body that regulates,
monitors, and challenges advertising claims believed to be illegally deceptive. The
FTC uses the following criteria when determining to challenge an advertising
representation:

The ad makes a representation, has an omission, or uses a practice that is likely to


mislead the consumer. The representation may be explicit (literal claim) or implied
(indirect or by inference) in the advertisement.

The representation, omission, or practice is misleading when examined from the


perspective of a reasonable consumer.

The representation, omission, or practice is material. The FTC evaluates the extent to
which the questionable ad influences behavior or purchasing patterns. A
representation, omission, or practice is material when behaviors or purchasing
patterns are affected.

The FTC has the authority to punish offending companies that compromise deceptive
advertising regulations. There are various types of remedies and sanctions available
to the FTC to enforce the law. Such remedies and sanctions include:

Injunction - a court order that prohibits or compels future conduct.


Cease and desist orders - prohibits the firm from engaging in the act or practice that
was determined to be deceptive.
Affirmative disclosure orders - the company is prohibited from making the claim in
the future without making an additional disclosure.
Corrective advertising - compels the advertiser to state in all future advertising that
the specific claims made in the past were false.
Multiple product order - applies to all future advertising of all products sold by the
firm.
Consent order - company agrees to cease certain activities without admitting wrong
doing.
The basic goal of the FTC is to increase the accuracy of product information available
to consumers. They do this by imposing regulations on very specific advertising
practices such as; mock demonstrations, endorsements or testimonials, promotions
based on price, advertisements concerning the availability of credit, and product
labeling.

In order to avoid FTC scrutiny advertisers must have the ability to substantiate their
claims about a product's attributes or performance through "reasonable basis." An
advertiser that claims their product "kills germs that cause colds and flu," or
"stimulates 25 pounds of weight loss in one week" must gather sufficient evidence of
the claims validity, usually before the ad is printed or broadcast. If a complaint is
made to the FTC concerning the accuracy of an advertisements claim, the FTC will
assess the reasonableness of the advertisers substantiation in order to determine if it
serves the public interest. The reasonable basis doctrine applies to food, drugs,
devices and cosmetics because their effect to the public is direct and their use might
endanger life.

The tremendous amount of money spent on advertising is a testament to the


importance of advertising in our economic system. In a sense advertising fuels the
economy. Unfortunately, the integrity of the advertising community must be
monitored. Deceptive advertising legislation is continually being updated and
improved to reflect the changing product lines that appeal to a public with specific
growing needs and wants. Government regulation provides the balance between the
important issues of commercial free speech, free business enterprise, and consumer
protection.

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O Fresh out of the image-damaging ``Belgian Coke scandal,'' Coca-Cola Korea Company
(CCKC) is once again the ``victim'' of an unrelated incident that could affect its king-of-pop
reputation.
The latest scandal began when an advertisement appeared in four Korean newspapers
yesterday that clearly compared Kunyoung Foods Co. Ltd.'s``Cola Independence 815'' with
Coca-Cola in favor of the former.

The Kunyoung Foods ad, which appeared on the front page of all four widely-read
newspapers, shows two cola cans -- one plastered with clippings of newspaper headlines
related to the Belgium Coke scare and the other,``Cola 815,'' sitting cool with trickling drops
of icy

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