Botox, medically known as Botulinum Toxin Type A, is one of the most popular anti-aging cosmetic treatments in the world. For years, Botox treatment is advertised as an anti-wrinkle treatment designed to give a more youthful look in just 10 minutes with no serious side effects. However, researchers have discovered that the Botox treatment could cause harmful side effects.
Experts are already aware of the potentially harmful side effects of Botox such as facial sagging and muscle weakness. But there are still more to be discorvered. As Sophie reported, in 2010 scientists gave another warning on Botox treatment. It states that Botox jabs may cause muscles to waste away into fat- even areas of the body which have not been injected.
Although harmful side effects of Botox are proved, a large number of cosmetic surgeries clinics continue marketing Botox as a treatment with no serious side effects. Vancouver laser & skin care center inc. still claim on its website “BOTOX® has been used safely by millions for over 21 years. There is no permanent side effect known with BOTOX® therapy for facial wrinkles. Since the treatment only relaxes the muscle beneath the line at the injection site, it has no effect on other elements of facial expression.”
The misleading advertisement of Botox treatment could cause unimaginable harms to those people without fully knowledge of the side effects. Especially in Asia, one can get Botox treatment in normal beauty bars where there are no professional doctors. It is necessary to think about ethical issues in those advertisements.
http://www.vancouverlaser.com/procedures-treatments/botox-injections/
Thanks for your Blog. You bring up valid concerns that we as consumers face when it comes to determining ethical or unethical ads. There are no questions that we do not do enough due diligence when it comes to purchasing products especially those we are not familiar with. The example you gave in your blog reminds me of many of the advertisements we see for medication. The ad is generally serene and relaxing trying to gain your confidence until the end when there is rapid fire of all the side effects those drugs could have on a person’s health.
As the German philosopher Immanuel Kant categorizes Humans as Persuaders. He describes the capacity at which humans are able to persuade one another (johannesen, valde, whedbee, 2008, pg 39-40). With the pressure of bottom line profit and the need to sell products I believe we get the short straw when it comes to ethically strong ads (my opinion).
The bigger question is how do we slow down as consumers to read the ads more thoroughly, take the effects seriously and hold the ad makers liable for the information they provide or provide in a print that is so small you cannot read or easy to read?
Ethics in communication in many facets of our world from politics to business seem to be less and less visible and could be considered as a major contributor to the challenges our world faces today.
Great Post!
Todd Graves
Drury University
Cited:
Johannesen, R. L., Valde, K. S., & Whedbee, K. E. (2008). Ethics in Human Communications (Sixth ed., pp. 35-46). Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press.
I happened onto this website while doing homework for an ethics in communication class at the University I am currently attending. What is interesting to me in advertising is the form of communication that is employed. In their book Ethics in Human Communication, Johannsen, Valde and Whedbee speak of the characteristics of monologue as being an undesirable type of human communication (Johannsen, Valde and Whedbee, 2008, p. 56). They continue by saying that a person employing monologue seeks to command, coerce, manipulate, conquer, dazzle, deceive or exploit and in so doing treat other people as “things” to be exploited for the communicators self-serving purposes (Johannsen, Valde and Whedbee, 2008, p. 57). This description seems rather harsh, but I personally think it sums up marketing quite well. Wayne Brockriede further categorizes the nature of advertising communication by using a sexual metaphor to discuss the nature of argumentation. The metaphor includes three types of arguers including the rapist, the seducer and the lover (Brockriede, 1972, p. 1-11). Advertising, according to Brockriede falls into the category of seducer and takes on a tone which is deceptive, insincere, beguiling, and is indifferent to the identity, integrity and rationality of the audience (Brockriede, 1972, p. 1-11). So what’s the point? Ethics don’t and won’t always equate to selling something. That being said, even though most reasonable people see the flaw in the lack of ethics in advertisement, it is not in the best interest of the advertiser to do so. I think they would rather be held accountable if something happens instead of being accountable up front.
Bryan Williams
Undergraduate Student
Drury University
Brockriede, Wayne “Arguers as Lovers”, Philosophy and Rhetoric, 5, 1972, p. 1-11.
Johannesen, R.L., Valde, K., Whedbee, K. (2009) Ethics in Human Communication ,6th Ed. Long Grove, Ill. Waveland Press
Thank you for sharing this fascinating study!
I wanted to gently point out that by linking to the website in question, it might inadvertently support their business. Links from reputable domains such as UBC can enhance a business’s SEO and help them rank higher on Google searches. It’s a subtle way that online dynamics work, and it’s always good to be mindful of this.
Thank you for your understanding.
Very nice Article!