The Morality

of
Advertising
 ADVERTISING

plays a very significant role in

marketing goods and services. Without
advertising, the consumers would not
be aware of the presence of diverse
products and services available in the
market.
 • From the point of morality,
advertising in itself is not bad or
immoral since it helps achieve the
goals of both the seller and buyer.
It only becomes immoral when, in
the attempt to persuade
consumers, the advertisements
become deceptive, misleading, and
manipulative.
It only becomes unethical when the advertisement becomes:

Misleading Advertisements
do not misinterpret, do not make false claims but it makes
claims in such a way that a normal person looking at it comes
up with the wrong conclusion.

Deceptive Advertisements
makes a false statement or misinterprets the product

Manipulative or Coercive Advertisements

Manipulative advertisement uses trickery or by devious or
insidious means. Coercive advertisement involves the use
of force or threat, either physical or psychological.
 DECEPTIVE ADVERTISING
• Deceptive ads are those which either make a
false statement and therefore, lie, or which
represent the product without making any
statement.

• Deceptions may occur not only through

sentences or propositions but also through
pictures, individual words, or through certain
combinations of objects which can deceive the
eye and mind.
• A typical example of a deceptive advertising is one
where pictures from the box of the product do not
look the same as the contents of the product. In this
case, the picture is said to be deceptive.

• Semantics in advertising is also allowed in some

conditions to allow certain leeway in some products.
Examples are shampoo, hair conditioners, lotions and
make ups. Using these products does not guarantee
that an ordinary person will look like the models
pictured in the ads. Most people understand the
semantics in advertising and do not take the implied
claims of the products literally.
 Use of “WEASEL WORDS”
• Another deceptive technique in advertising is
ambiguity. When ads are ambiguous, they are
considered deceptive. The use of weasel words is
often complementary to ambiguity in advertising.

• Weasel words are used to avoid or recoil from a

direct or straightforward statement. This is true
with semantics which is often used in
advertisements in order to prevent accusations
that advertisers are acting immorally.
• Example of a commonly used weasel
word is “help”. Help means to “aid” or
“assist”. The word help has been
generally used to say something that
couldn’t said. We are usually accustomed
to ads that contain phrases like: helps
fight, helps prevent, helps stop, helps
you feel, helps overcome, helps you
look.
 EXAGGERATION
• Consumers might also be misled through exaggeration.
Exaggeration occurs when advertisement tend to make false
claims of the benefits of the goods or services which is actually
unsupported by valid evidence.
• For example, claims that a pain reliever provides “extra pain
relief” or is “50% stronger that aspirin”, that is “upsets the
stomach less frequently” or is “superior to any other non
prescription painkiller on the market”.
• Exaggeration often goes hand in hand with concealed
information. Advertisers conceal facts by suppressing information
that is unflattering to their products. That is, they deliberately
neglect to mention or distract consumers’ attention away from
information, knowledge which would probably make their
products less desirable.
 PSYCHOLOGICAL APPEALS
• This is one area in advertising that presents a serious moral
concern. Richard F. Taflinger defines psychological appeal as a
visual or aural influence on the subconscious mind and
emotions. It influences by implying that doing what is suggested
(in the case of advertising, buying the product or service) will
satisfy a subconscious desire. It is not subliminal, which includes
elements in a visual or aural presentation that are not
consciously perceived but influence behavior.

• Some of the psychological appeals that advertisers use to

motivate people to buy products are: Power, prestige, personal
enjoyment, masculinity, femininity, curiosity, imitation,
acceptance, approval, self-esteem, self-preservation, altruism,
and the most pervasive of all are sexual pitches.
 ADS DIRECTED AT CHILDREN
• Most advertisers have recognized that advertising
to children is effective and eventually became a big
business recently. Children are a special group of
consumers who do not regard reason.

• The average child is exposed to more than 40,000

TV commercials a year, according to studies. And
ads are reaching children through new media
technologies and even in schools – with corporate
sponsored educational materials and product
placements in students’ textbooks.
• The aim of advertisers is for the
children to pester their parents to buy
things for them. Children generally
remember what they see. Young
children are naive and gullible and are
particularly vulnerable to enticements
made by advertisers.
• One advertising expert said that kids
are the most pure consumers in that
they tend to interpret ads literally. The
problem with this thinking is that
children are not able to draw a line
between children’s shows and
commercials; they see commercials as
a form of entertainment.
 Philippine Laws on Advertising
CONSUMER ACT OF THE PHILIPPINES (R.A. 7394)
Article 108 of the Act declares that “The State
shall protect the consumer from misleading
advertisements and fraudulent sales promotion
practices.” The department trade and industry is
responsible for enforcing the provisions of the Act.
With respect to food, drugs, cosmetics, devices and
hazardous substances, the Department of Health is the
agency that oversees these products.
 False, Deceptive and Misleading Advertisement
Article 110 states that “It shall be unlawful for any
person to disseminate or to cause the dissemination of
any false, deceptive or misleading advertisement by
Philippine mail or in commerce by print, radio,
television, outdoor advertisement or other medium for
the purpose of inducing or which is likely to induce
directly or indirectly the purchase of consumer
products or services.”

• An advertisement shall be considered false, deceptive or

misleading if it is not in conformity with the provisions of the
Act or if it is misleading in a material respect.
 Special Requirements for
Food, Drug, Cosmetic, Device or Hazardous Substances
The following rules must be followed:
a)No claim in the advertisement should be made
that is not contained in the label or approved by
the Department of Health (DOH).
b)It is unlawful to advertise any food, drug
cosmetic, device or hazardous substance that is
false, misleading or deceptive or is likely to
create an erroneous impression regarding its
character, value, quantity, composition, merit, or
safety.
c) Where a standard has been prescribed for a food,
drug, cosmetic, or device, no person shall advertise
any article or substance in a manner that is likely to
be mistaken for such product, unless the product
actually complies with the prescribed standard.
d) Advertisements of any food, drug, cosmetic,
device, or hazardous substance may not make use
of any reference to any laboratory report of
analysis required to be submitted to the department
of Health, unless such laboratory report is duly
approved by the DOH.
e) No advertisements for any food, drug, cosmetic,
device or hazardous substance may be allowed
unless such product is duly registered and
approved by DOH.
 PHILIPPINE ASSOCIATION OF NATIONAL ADVERTISERS (PANA)

In 1958, advertisers formed the Philippine Association of

National Advertisers (PANA). Since then, the PANA has been
engaged in a continuing campaign to regulate abuses committed
by untruthful advertisers. The PANA issued a Code of Ethics
which includes the following statement of general principles:

• Good advertising recognizes both its economic and social

responsibility to help reduce distribution costs and to serve the
public interest.
• Good advertising depends for its success on public confidence.
Hence, it cannot permit those practices that tend to impair this
confidence.
• Good advertising aims to inform the consumer and help him
buy intelligently.
• Good advertising tells the truth. It is accurate, honest,
and trustworthy. It avoids exaggerations, misstatements
of facts, as well as possible deceptions through
implications or omission.
• Good advertising conforms not only to the laws but
also to the generally accepted standards of good taste
and decency, and to moral and aesthetic sentiments of
the country. It avoids any practice or statement which
may be offensive to the public as a whole or to any
particular group, class, or race.
• Good advertising seeks public acceptance on the basis
of positive and constructive statements, made on the
merits of the product or service advertised, rather than
by the disparagement of competition.
• Good advertising does not allow any
activity that involves the exploitation of the
goodwill, attached to any other firm,
product, or service. It does not imitate or
simulate trademarks, firm names, packages,
labels and such advertising devices as
illustration, copy, layouts, or slogans.

• Good advertising helps to dignify the

individual and contribute to the building of a
civilized society.