Ethical Effects Of Advertising In Advertising

At some point during the study, the people involved were given a snack during their respective viewings. The results have shown that exposure to food in advertisements increases a child’s consumption by 45% – most of which is considered to be unhealthy. Encouraging children to consume so much fatty food is quite unethical, as they tend to be rather gullible and unaware of health facts. Thus, it can implicitly create overweight and unhealthy children with bad eating habits. This can be taken further by pointing out that society pays a high price in terms of the extra medical care that such children will eventually require (Rabin). From this perspective, governments tend to lean towards regulating the airing of advertisements directed at children because the latter is seen as a contributor to this problem.

Adding insult to injury, children-focused campaigns are unethical for the reason that they can be damaging on a psychological level. Although advertising companies cannot be entirely blamed for clinical issues such as depression, they are certainly a powerful contributor to the development of young minds. Commercials can be damaging to children, as they affect them on a psychological level. On top of that, psychologists are now working alongside advertisers, which can be seen as unethical – although they attempt to argue that they are not doing anything wrong. Children do not necessarily understand why they cannot always obtain what they want, or why other children have what they cannot. The Hyundai commercial states that the best stories start in the new Hyundai Santa Fe, making viewers believe that no experience comes close to the ones created with this new car. In the eyes of a child, not having the desired product – such as th...

... middle of paper ...

...erts have constantly argued. While some have surrendered to reforming their marketing strategies towards children, others have refused to cave under pressure. Despite the issue remaining a controversy, social norms are nonetheless shifting and corporations are forced to keep updated. If advertising companies don’t properly respect social corporate responsibility, the government will be obliged to set strict regulatory standards. Although it would be unrealistic to believe that advertising companies will entirely discontinue to aim commercials towards children, it is absolutely realistic to expect them to market in a more responsible and ethical manner. Furthermore, due to the fact that many companies have not been very proactive in regards to this issue, it is important that parents and other significant influences work hard to protect children from marketing ploys.