A Critical Look at Ethics in Advertising

             Right now I am attending The University of South Florida and I plan to major in advertising. Today there is a lot of controversy in the ethics of advertising. For instance, the advertisement for Calvin Klein underwear. He had a huge billboard in the middle of Times Square. On that billboard was a picture of two little children in their underwear, standing on a couch, grinning and clowning around. Critics complained it bordered on pornography and could encourage pedophilia. The controversy appeared to be a clash between outraged religious conservatives and the bold fashion designer who's known for publishing the bounds of sexuality and taste in advertising. From explicit sexual imagery to pictures that evoke tender emotions, such as happy kids romping around in their underwear, almost anything goes if it helps sells a product. With the average American now exposed to 3,000 advertising images a day, and designers feel a need to shock, stand out and grab consumers in new ways, even if it is totally out of line. In the end, the controversy led Mr. Klein to cancel the billboard in Times Square.
             In society, there are so many different cultures and races. Everyone in this world is brought up with his or her own beliefs and values, which makes it seem impossible to be able to please everybody. So what can you say is an ethical way of advertising your product? Many people have many different answers to that question, but there has to be a common ground where everyone can get along. Ethics of virtue relies on the development by people of certain kinds of character traits: courage, trust, justice, and compassion. What a person should do is what those with the relevant character traits would do, an approach that relies on experience and judgment, not on the imposition of an external, abstract principle to a particular situation. (Legal Ethics)
             A man named Patrick Murphy believed that analysis was necessary before making any suggestions on h...

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