Are Advertiser’s Sending the Wrong Message?

In today’s world everyone wants his or her own unique product or idea to be noticed.  We’re all looking for that perfect “get rich quick” scheme, and quite frankly it seems to be clouding consumer’s heads when trying to buy a product or service. Being ethical while conducting research and advertising a product, person or service, may prove to be a tough challenge, but it should be something every professional strives for.

I recently read an article that talked about the poor ethics that some company’s had while advertising their products. I related so much to this article because there have been instances where I have fallen into the trap of unethical or false advertising. It briefly discusses disclaimers on medicine saying “When a medication is helpful, does that mean one per cent of the time or ninety percent of the time?” This part falls directly into the ethics of research. The company should know how helpful this medication is, and it is unethical not to say exactly what their data told them. As we read in chapter 33 in our “Advertising and Public Relations Research” textbook, you must disclose all your information even if it puts a negative spin on the product you are trying to sell.

Another prime example I came across was one with skin care products. This article says that most skin care products are filled with false claims. If this skin care company was ethical they would make sure all of their research results were accurate, and then they would accurately get that information to the public. However this is never the case, and many companies will do whatever it takes to sell their product.