Ethics in Advertising

Persuasive Essay # 116372

Advertising
Business > Marketing
Ethics

A discussion of the ethical issues in advertisements that promote weight loss products and muscle building supplements.

863 words () | 8 sources | APA | 2009 United States

Paper Summary:

The paper asserts that an ethical advertisement should never flex the facts in order to make the product more saleable. The paper discusses the ethics of weight loss advertisements targeting those who are vulnerable, such as teenagers or anorexics, and advertisements promoting fat-burning and muscle building that create issues of body image and perception. The paper discusses how, while the weight-loss industry is huge, if companies do not advertise carefully, they would be open to criticism from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the public. The paper concludes that in general, the advertising of a product ethically towards the consumer also benefits the manufacturer.

From the Paper:

"Any advertisement which hoped to sell weight-loss, or fat-burning, products would therefore have to be extremely careful with the claims being made, without, however, resorting to the Suanabelt's use of trickery. Any advertiser would need to carefully examine the benefits of the herbal supplement, and then insure that the adverts conformed to the FTC guidelines. The Advertiser might consider following the guidelines as laid down by The Weight Management Code Administration Council of Australia in order to ensure that there is no obvious misleading of the customer."

Sample of Sources Used:

Burgard, Debora (2007) "Weight Loss Industry" at http://www.bodypositive.com/wtloss.htm accessed 26 Sept 2007
Ethics Scoreboard (2006) "The Ethics of Weight-loss commercials" from http://www.ethicsscoreboard.com/list/weightloss.html accessed on 26 Sept 2007
Federal Trade Commission (2003) "Deception in Weight loss advertising workshop" Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Surgeon General 2003.
Hawkes, Steven, and Gast, Julie (2000) "The Ethics of Promoting Weight Loss" Healthy Weight Journal Volume 14, number 2. March/April 2000
Raderprogams (2007) 'Diet Pills" http://www.raderprograms.com/dietpills.aspx accessed on 26 September 2007