Advertising is a legalized lying
Advertising is a legalized lying
Introduction
Advertising is for the promotion of goods and services. H. G. Wells made the famous statement that advertising is a legalized form of lying. But the ethical conduct of brand managers and the sincere efforts by the advertising industry to adhere to good practices has made this statement far from true in modern times. While many people argue that advertisers exploit the emotions of people, nothing could be far from the truth.
Indian and international advertising companies have focused on using strong, positive messages to widen markets and promote brisk sales of products. Advertising is not legalized lying.
Viewpoint
Advertising has generated massive revenue for companies worldwide. It has boosted consumerism and spurred the growth of the national as well as global economies. Key advertising agencies follow strict guidelines in formulating their ads. Print ads as well as commercials are in keeping with modern times.
Some ads such as the famous Amul girl even convey valuable commentary on relevant social, political and economic issues. Other components of promotional ads such as public relations and sales promotion are not only critical for boosting sales, but also contributing to the growth and progress of key sectors in the economy such as services and manufacturing.
Advertising aims to reach consumers across various segments. Products are advertised keeping the needs of the target population in mind. The ad is designed to evoke emotions and thoughts about the product or service in the minds of the consumer.
Advertising is a key to successful brand promotion. This is why advertisers and marketing teams focus on promoting correct information about the product. Countries all over the world including India regulate the quality of commercials to ensure that no rules are being flouted and consumers are not being misled.
Advertisers use research techniques to understand consumer sentiment. The ads are created to capture key emotions and convey strong messages. An ad can only be successful if carries true information and solid facts. If advertisers were to resort to lies, this would eventually destroy the brand.
Though ad campaigns are stylized and somewhat glamorous descriptions of a product, service or individual, the basic facts conveyed do not deviate far from the truth. Advertising is centred on producing campaigns and commercials which answer the questions people may have regarding a certain brand.
Public opinion is a powerful force in today’s world. It can make or break governments. Any ad campaign that conveys the true feelings of the common man is sure to find resonance with the masses. This is what motivates the advertisers to produce commercials that reflect fact, not fiction.
Conclusion
Creativity is an important aspect of designing any ad or commercial. But regulatory authorities ensure that modern day advertising does not twist or distort facts.
This is the key to ensuring that ad campaigns create a powerful impact.
Advertising awards and accolades are also given to commercials and ad campaigns which carry powerful messages and use innovation and creativity to create a powerful impact. This is why ad campaigns and commercials nowadays do not lie. They convey facts in a creative and meaningful manner.
Discussion
- RE: Advertising is a legalized lying -Deepa Kaushik (05/07/14)
- Advertising is legal and whatever they portray is unreal. This is a known fact that whatever is advertised is not the same in the real world. The world is highly commercialised and we are facing an era of aggressive marketing. Ever increasing similar product range is another challenge for the manufacturers to lead the race.
With such a tough competition, the advertising agencies adds up many impractical inclusions into the advertisement of the product to give a special appealing feel. Rather than just attracting the potential customers, the presentation of the advertisements lures many others who don’t have any demand of the product.
The lies are a package of the advertising. Every advert just focus to attract as many people turning them to their customers, without any need to check the quality of the service so provided. An intelligent customer definitely understands the original quality of the product to a couple of degrees less to that defined.
With such a fallacy prevailing so openly, nobody can take them to the legal call, as these adverts have hidden terms and conditions which they play quite safely on the legal grounds. Advertising is undoubtedly a legalized lying.
- Advertising is a legalized lying -Lubna Lakdawala (04/02/14)
Advertising is legalized lying
Everywhere and anywhere we go, advertisements are always there. Be it while travelling on road, television, social media etc. We are basically bombarded with ads everywhere.
Advertising is a form of marketing which is used to influence people and promote a product, service or even an opinion. The motive of an advertisement is to grab the attention of its viewers and in turn making them aware about the product or service. Advertisement is a really helpful tool in promoting a business or product. It is beneficial both to the consumers as well as marketers. There are new products and services coming up in the market everyday. As a consumer, advertising help us updated about these new developments. Advertising is useful to the marketer as well as it help them sell their products and services by making the customers aware.
But unfortunately, many advertisements manipulate the consumer by falsely exaggerating the qualities of the product or the service, which makes it rather difficult for the consumer whether or not to trust an advertisement.
In the Indian scenario, the quality of advertising is not so good. Only some ads do their job well, there are just unbearable.
For e.g the ‘Surf Excel – Daag Acche Hain’ Ads are pleasing as it made dirty good beneficial, the ‘Axe effect’ ad is completely absurd; ‘Thumps up’ had gone too far as it shows people going through dangerous stunts.
Marketers often claim that their products are the best and they make ads keeping in mind the actual qualities of the product. This may be true in some cases but many a times advertisers do not follow the guidelines properly to make the ads. Many a times even inferior products come across as the best and when customer buyw and usew it they are in for a huge disappointment. Recently in US there was a case against L’Oreal for falsely enchasing one of their products in the advertisement, but in India many of these cases goes unnoticed as Indian advertisement law are not so strict.
Marketers do not realize that their advertisements have a huge impact on the consumer’s advertisement. Many young girls start using make-up and cosmetic products at an early age because of the influence of the advertisements.
Advertisers need to be more conscious about its content. They should advertise the products as they truly are without falsely enhancing anything.
Customers should need to do their part and do not follow advertisements blindly. They should be aware about the products they buy and verify the truth in the advertisements before selecting a product. All advertising content should be screened and checked before reaching the audience.
