Social Ethics of Negative Advertising: Term Paper

This advertisement, a commercial on cable television, advertised an insurance company. The advertisement featured a typical couple driving down the road chatting, when a car sideswiped them without any warning. The advertisement was intended to educate the public as to the importance of insurance because of life's unpredictability, but the shock tactic used in the commercial has negative effects on the watchers. Like news shows, the advertisement is meant to inspire fear, which creates a negative social environment.

But advertisements don't necessarily have to create a negative environment in order to be ethically and socially negative. Neither do they have to offend target markets with less than tasteful techniques or shock tactics. They can be deceptive, convincing consumers to purchase products they don't need. One type of advertising particularly guilty of this offense is paid programming, or television length commercials that appear on home shopping networks or traditional networks at certain times of the day. These advertisements, which attempt to sell recently patented products that are generally useless, specifically target those alone watching TV during certain periods of the day, vulnerable audiences like the elderly.Although some marketing executives may choose this type of advertising because it is less expensive and allows viewers to see product demonstrations, the ethical consequences of the advertisements is less than desirable.

Similarly, many advertisements have adverse social consequences because they encourage materialism, which is contrary to most people's social values. An example of this kind of advertising is a series of perfume advertisements that depict young, rich women with every type of accessory and clothing that only need the perfume to add the last touch of material perfection.

Although studies regarding negative advertising have been performed since the early 90s, the phenomenon has continued regardless of statistical evidence disputing the advertisements' effectiveness. Although many marketing directors continue to launch negative advertisements, the social consequences of these advertisements are large and often dire.

References

Wineburger, Marc G., Romero, Jean B., & Piracha, Azhar. (1991). Negative Product

Safety News: Coverage, Responses, and Effects -- Automotive Industry. Business Horizons. Retrieved June 14, 2008, at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1038/is_n3_v34/ai_10815411.

Jain, Shailenda Pratap. (1993). Positive vs. Negative Comparative Advertising.

Marketing Letters. 4(4), 309-320......