Dec
2
Ethical Advertising
Posted by: tonyteng | December 2, 2010 | Leave a Comment
http://news.indiainfo.com/091021113041_man_sues_axe_as_unable_to_get_girl-478394.html
So what exactly constitute ethical advertising?
As I was doing assignment 4 for Axe promotional mix, I was surprised to know that Axe was sued because of the puffery used in its advertisement.
So should we believe in advertisement? All of us know that the advertisement contains puffery a lot of times. But if one company like Axe overuses it, which cause the man unable to get himself a girlfriend, is this ethical as well?
From textbook, it is okay to use puffery as long as it doesn’t bring harm to consumers. But is it okay to lie to consumers by exaggerating the effect of using the products? This is more like a food for thought for everyone. I am in opinion of the company should be responsible for what they say although they assume that everyone knows it is a puffery.
I know that I would be frustrated and agitated when the product doesn’t meet the expectation portrayed by the ad.