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Impact of Advertising
on Society.
TOPICS COVERED
Impact on advertising on Society with reference to deception, puffery, manipulative
advertising, advertising creating materialism, advertising of certain products such as
tobacco and liquor, advertising and special audience, advertising and moral values,
violation of right to privacy, promotion of stereotyping, positive role of advertising.
OBJECTIVES
1. To point out the positive and negative side of advertising.
2. To enable students to discern manipulative advertising.
3. To be aware of impact on special audiences such as children and women.
4. To examine the right to privacy and its violation.
• Recently, a research was conducted in the USA. It found that the image of women in
TV Ads has, "shifted from women as homemakers or domestic attendants, to woman
as sex objects," over the past few decades. These women are usually represented by
thin/ glamorous models/actors. The researchers asked a group of 108 college
undergraduates to view a series of television Ads. 35 of them were exposed to 15
sexist commercials, (for beer, car, cologne, clothing etc.) and 5 non-sexist Ads.
Another group of 34 students viewed 20 non-sexist Ads. The remainders viewed no
Ads at all.
After being exposed to these commercials, the participants were asked certain
questions. Individuals who viewed the sexist Ads were most likely to suffer from
poor body image (i.e., they thought that their body was not healthy or attractive
enough). Women thought they had more weight than they should and men thought
they were thinner than they should be as compared with their 'ideal' body types
(shown in the Ads). Conclusion: Sexist TVC can undermine the healthy body image
of viewers.
• Some years ago, there was an Ad by Inter Shoppe which showed a woman wearing
only a pair of jeans and no top (i.e., with 50% clothes). The headline said: upto 50%
off'. It was to announce the sale of products with a 50% discount offer.
• There was an Ad of a magic ring published in a magazine suggesting that by wearing
that ring, you can make other people do what you want, you can land a good job,
succeed in examinations and even win in lottery and gambling. Besides, you will
even get dreams of burried wealth.
• Recently, Hindustan Lever Limited admitted that while their Wheel detergent gave
the impression of containing real lemon extract, actually it did not contain it. Hence,
the impact was deceptive.
• Do you think this Ad is going overboard: 'funerals that will make your family happy'.
(An Ad by a company that arranges for funerals in USA) An Ad for a pencil: 'A
portable communication device, needing no batteries, in a handsomely finished
wooden carrying case.
This is how advertising manipulates the customers.
Now read further.
Introduction.
The role of advertising has often been a subject of much debate in society. Advertising
may be useful to consumers, considering that dissemination of information is necessary
when buyers have to make a choice from various products and services. The opposite
view is based on the contention that consumers are duped by misleading advertising and
hence advertising should be curtailed, or at least strictly regulated. Advertising on social
issues is criticized on the grounds of deception, manipulation and on ground of being in
bad taste. Besides, it also is alleged to corrupt our social values and life styles. Some of
the criticisms are:
Deception.
Deception occurs when an advertisement is introduced into the perceptual process of the
audience and the outcome of the perceptual process either differs from reality of the
situation or affects buying behaviour to the detriment of the consumer. Thus, it refers to
the informational content in the advertising but may also arise from the misplaced
emphasis on presentation. A good example is the case related to a Delhi shop called
Skipper. The Ad by this shop said that there was a discount of upto 50% on furnishing
fabrics, Modifloor pure wool/woolblend/nylon carpets. A complaint said that the
advertisement withheld a variety of information relating to the quality of the products,
their standards, their style, etc. The buyers were also kept in the dark about whether the
goods were old or new. In fact, the maximum discount of 50% was granted only on items
that were old and remnant.
Earlier, some of the most misleading advertisements were those of liquor brands
when liquor advertising was not permitted. Then, the advertisers would resort to a variety
of gimmicks. Thus, McDowell pretended to sell Diplomat disposable ice cube bags or
McDowell's Soda with spirit, the world of course knew that Diplomat was synonymous
with whisky.
In brief therefore:
• Deception is involved when due to advertising (a) a consumer perceives a claim
(being explicitly or implicitly made by the advertiser) differently from what it
actually is; (b) they buy the product under the influence of mistaken impression and
then suffers a loss as a consequence. Thus, either the claim itself could be false or at
least the impression being created is false.
• Even if literally true, an advertiser may make a claim that a particular target audience
may not be able to understand correctly. For example, if the potential students cannot
distinguish between a government registered and government recognised institute and
a student takes admission in a government registered institute believing it to be a
government recognized one, it is a case of deception.
Recently, many management institutes have started using CAT (Common Admission
Test) conducted by IIMs for screening their applicants. The impression, though
unintended, that was created in the mind of the applicants was that these institutes were in
one way or the other affiliated to the IIMs. The CAT committee, therefore, has directed
all such institutes to write in their Ads that IIMs have no role in the selection process or
conduct of the program. (See the Ad. on page 259 for Fore School of Management)
• Sometimes, silence may be deceptive. Hence, complete disclosure may be needed.
For example, through clever advertising, baby food may be sold to mothers of
children below one year of age. These mothers may not realize that there is no better
food for an infant than their own milk. Thus, silence (i.e., not saying that breast
feeding is the best) on part of the baby food company is actually misleading and
hence deceptive.
In an advertisement for Palmolive shaving cream, the cream lather was shown to be
effective enough to shave sand grains off the sand paper. Implication was that if the
cream could shave sand paper, it could tackle the toughest beard. But what was not
disclosed was the fact that the sand paper was soaked in water for 24 hours before
shooting of the Ad. Would you immerse your face in water for 24 hours before shaving?
Puffery.
Puffery refers to an advertising claim that is not outright false because the product does
possess that quality but it is an exaggerated claim. It is a subjective claim that cannot be
proved right or wrong. A rather well established convention is that trade putting is
permissible. Putting takes two general forms. The first is a subjective statement of
opinion about a product's quality, using such terms as best or greatest. Nearly all Ads
contain some measure of puffery. For example 'We are No. 1' (Videocon TV Ad), 'The
only way to Dress' (Dash Shirts and Trousers), 'Most Thrilling when Chilled'. -
(Kingfisher mineral water).
The second form of puffery is an exaggeration extended to the point of outright
spoot that everyone knows is not true. The 'green devil' of Onida was obviously fictitious
and even if he were real he would not be talking the way he did.
The notable part is puffery is not punishable by law.
Manipulative Advertising.
Critics of advertising feel that freedom of choice of the customer is restricted by the
power of advertising since it can manipulate buyers into making a decision against their
best interests. Such manipulation can be brought about by playing on the subconscious
motives of people by using emotional and subliminal appeals. They say that advertising
acts as a hidden persuade. Look at the Denim Ad after shave Ad. It shows that a girl is
attracted towards you because of your using Denim. Now, this may be a subconscious
desire of most young males. They would like to try the brand, even though on rational
analysis, they would know that this is far from being true. Likewise, in an earlier
Pantaloon Ad, the illustration showed only a woman and the caption says: 'The kinds of
clothes and accessories for men even women fall for'.
Assignments
1. Discuss one campaign where you feel the advertising is manipulative. List out all
your reasons.
2. Make a study of the negative impact of advertising on children or women. Give as
many examples as possible.