The ensuing entry is a response to Sagher Bajwa’s recent blog post about unethical marketing. In particular, the post is in regard to the following advertisement by Nova Schin:

I entirely agree with Sagher’s outlook on the general message this advertisement portrays. It is solely subjective based on how the viewer interprets it. In my opinion, Nova Schin is not explicitly stating that pregnant women should drink non-alcoholic beverages. Rather, they may be trying to show that drinking non-alcoholic beverages is possible for pregnant women. Furthermore, a lot of countries have some sort of advertising regulations in place (such as Advertising Standards Canada), so I highly doubt they would allow such an advertisement if it was as harmful as people seem to make it.

It is safe to say that this advertisement is close to crossing a fine line between allowable and prohibited ads. However, Nova Schin likely wanted it to be just that. It catches the eye of the reader immediately, whether that is in a positive or negative way. In the end, isn’t that what advertising is about? Also, if people who shouldn’t drink alcoholic beverages shouldn’t drink this product, then what’s the point of non-alcoholic beverages?