Advertising

"What is the difference between unethical and ethical advertising? Unethical advertising uses falsehoods to deceive the public; ethical advertising uses truth to deceive the public. "
Vilhjalmur Stefansson, "Discovery", 1964 Canadian explorer & ethnologist (1879 - 1962)

Had a full day yesterday in the office. Got home and watched Gladiators with my son (yes , I know) then the neighbours came round to have a drink and a chat. After they had gone home, I put my son to bed and my wife crashed as well. I was tempted to follow suit, also having had a tiring day. But I had received a text from a friend saying they were going to a fantastic jam session near me. So I popped out to the local pub to meet them only to head back home to get my musical equipment - snare drum, stand and drumsticks. It was worth it - what a great evening of music we had! I was very grateful for that advertising text, though I ended up going to bed at 1:30am.

What about advertising then? The quotation suggests that regardless of the accuracy of the claims, the objective of the advert is to deceive the viewer. If deceiving the viewer includes influencing the viewer into making a decision to buy a product or service, then I agree. Is influencing the same as deceiving? Hmm, that doesn't sound right. Or do adverts actually go a little further? Do they not conjure up an image or a feeling (e.g. through music) that the viewer is led to believe they will get if they buy the advertised product or service? So rather than simply sell the product or service on the basis of functionality and tangible benefits, the adverts often go further - selling an image or feeling that is perhaps not guaranteed at all, and may even be spurious. This is where the deceit may occur even if their claims about the product or service are true.

So let's bring this closer to home. What about us, when we try to influence others? We don't call it advertising, but that is probably what we are effectively doing (perhaps in an unsophisticated way), whether it is persuading someone to buy a new gadget or see a film. Do we sell the facts and tangible benefits or do we sell the image and feelings?