Unethical Practices in

Advertising
 Presented By:-
• Neha Jain
• Ruchira Mishra
• Ananjay Shipstone
• Ankush Taneja
• Ayushi Agarwal
 INTRODUCTION
• Definition of Advertising –
• Advertising is a form of communication intended
to persuade an audience (viewers, readers or
listeners) to purchase or take some action upon
products, ideas, or services. It includes the name of a
product or service and how that product or service
could benefit the consumer, to persuade a target
market to purchase or to consume that
particular brand. These messages are usually paid for
by sponsors and viewed via various media.
Advertising can also serve to communicate an idea to
a large number of people in an attempt to convince
them to take a certain action.
 MARKETING ETHICS
• Marketing ethics is the area of applied
ethics which deals with the moral
principles behind the operation and
regulation of marketing.
 Types of unethical advertisement

• False Advertising
• Advertising to Children
• Shock Advertising
• Comparative Advertising
ADVERTISING TO
CHILDREN
Unethical use of children in
Advertisements
• National Legislation and Advertising
Standards has given the following
definition –
• “Advertising to children is the act
of marketing or advertising products or
services to children.”
 Children’s abilities
• Pester power- children’s ability
to nag their parents to buy
items which they may not
otherwise buy.
• Today’s children have more
autonomy and power in
decision making within the
family. They are vocal about
what they want their parents to
buy.
The baby is a new born baby and doesn’t even know anything about
these brands and companies whose logo and names is been painted
on it.
This picture depicts
that company’s didn’t
even leave school
buses and turned them
also into a commercial
billboard.
SHOCK ADVERTISING
Vulgarity in Advertisement
• Shock advertising or Shockvertising is a
type of advertising generally regarded as
one that “deliberately, rather than
inadvertently, startles and offends its
audience by violating norms for social values
and personal ideals.”
• It is the employment in advertising or public
relations of "graphic imagery and blunt
slogans to highlight" a public policy issue,
goods, or services.
• This ad of Dolce & Gabbana features a
woman in a lewd manner, an example of
Shock Advertising.
 Women positioning in advertisement

Projects an unrealistic
ideal of the feminine form.

Filtering of advertisement
through male lens.

Advertisement creating
female insecurities.

Advertising negatively
objectifies women.
False Claim Advertisement
• False advertising or deceptive
advertising is the use of false or
misleading statements in advertising.
 False/deceptive advertising
• False advertising or deceptive advertising is
the use of false or misleading statements in
advertising.
• False advertising is illegal in most countries.
However, advertisers still find ways to deceive
consumers in ways that are not illegal.
• Types of deceptive advertising includes
– Price based deception
– Surrogate advertising
– False efficiency suggestions
– Other methods
• This ad shows three types of cakes with
cream filling, claiming to be limited to only
100 calories per pack. A false claim by the
manufacturer - Hostess
 Price based deception
• Service providers often tack on the fees
and surcharges that are not disclosed to
the customer in the advertised price. One
of the most common is for activation of
services such as mobile phones.
• In most cases, the fees are hidden in fine
print.
• Hidden fees are frequently used in airline
and air travel advertising
 Surrogate advertising
• In India, due to severe restrictions on
advertising certain products like alcohol,
tobacco products and medicines ,a whole
genre of surrogate advertising has emerged.
• In such advertising, a brand is endorsed
using a product different from the actual
product being promoted.
• example : the advertisements of Bagpiper
Soda. This advertisement was held to be a
surrogate advertisement for Bagpiper
whiskey
 False efficiency
• FMCG companies like Hindustan Unilever,
Nestle and Parle Agro have been made to
withdraw the TV commercials they aired
during the quarter from April to June, by the
Advertising Standards Council of India
(ASCI).
• HUL was pulled up for its Dove Treatment
shampoos with false efficacy suggestions,
Nestle Maggi Ketchup’s claims of being
healthy was found to be misleading, and
Parle’s LMN lemon brand was said to be
racist in nature.
COMPARITIVE ADVERTISING
Comparative advertising is an
advertisement in which a particular product,
or service, specifically mentions a
competitor by name for the express
purpose of showing why the competitor is
inferior to the product naming it.
• This ad portrays the ongoing battle
between PepsiCo and The Coca-Cola
Company.
• The ad shows excessive usage of the
Pepsi vending machine and no use of the
Coca-Cola vending machine. This is a
typical example of Comparative
Advertising.