Ethics And Advertising

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when much of the information is left out? Or when the information given are exaggerations or downright lies?
Advertisers should also provide the greatest good to the most people, not just the greatest number of products sold to the most people. With this in mind, I’d like to discuss a few of the more abundant methods advertisers employ in order to deceive potential consumers and emphasize the features of their products. One of them is the appeal to an authority. This is clearly seen when companies use celebrities to sell their products, such as Michael Jordan selling phone services. The underlying message here is that people who use this service or buy this product will be living the high life of a celebrity when usually these famous people do not use the same product themselves.
Another big deception is the use of fine print. Advertisers often tout wonderful coverage of their products in bright, bold words and pictures, but they take it away in the fine print. This is ...

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if they want to buy such products. This is especially so for companies offering medicines. They should have to clearly explain all of the possible bad side-affects of their product in order to protect their consumers from illness or death.
Another deception is when advertisers employ the use of weasel words, words that suck out all or most of an ad’s meaning. For instance, Listerine “fights” bad breath, but it does not cure it; Selsun Blue “helps” control dandruff, but they don’t say it gets rid of it; and Dawn dish detergent gets dishes “virtually” spotless, but not completely clean.
The last big deception is the use of faulty comparisons. Pizza Hut often compares their pizza ...

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