ADPR 3100 Exam 3 Evans

Legal

What can I say and/or do in my advertising?

Illegal

What should I try to avoid in my advertising?

Listerine Campaign

claimed to cure colds and was deemed deceptive (illegal)

In 1975, was forced by the FTC to spend $10 million on corrective advertising

substantiation

what is measurable or can be proven

- claims can be explicitly stated, implied, or demonstrated
- claims have to be backed up
- typically claims are tested in a lab, real world setting, or previous company documents are examined.

How can claims be presented?

1) Explicitly Stated

2) Implied

3) Demonstrated

True

Claims have to be backed up (substantiated)

VW/Audi

2008-2015 campaign claimed that their diesel cars were "clean" and "environmentally friendly"

unsubstantiated and deceptive

FTC ordered VW to pay owners and leasers $4 billion with up to $40 billion in other fines

Red Bull

claimed it improved concentration and reaction speeds and "gave you wings"

was deemed deceptive and unsubstantiated

$13 million to affected consumers through $10 checks or $15 vouchers

Walgreens

claimed its store brand boosted immunity system

deemed unsubstantiated and faced $6 million in fines

LifeLock

claimed it provided absolute protection against ID theft

deceptive claim

$12 million fine paid to customers

Airborne

claimed it could prevent colds

deceptive claim and faced $23 million in fines for false advertising

Pseudo Claim

we are not told how

"Crest fights cavities"

Comparison with Unidentified Other

nothing to compare it to

"Windex has better cleaning action"

Comparison of the Product to its earlier Form

doesn't say in what way

"Apple is new and improved"

Irrelevant Comparisons

could be that this is the only car in its class

"Pontiac G6 coupe has the most head room in its class"

Pseudo Survey

Giving statistics or quotes about a product but not giving the source or verifying the claim

"4 out of 5 dentists recommend Scope"

Deception

lie likely to mislead and the consumer is acting reasonable

*must be material

Puffery

the legal exaggeration of praise, stopping just short of deception, lavished on a product

*not legally actionable

Material

Impactful to behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs

ex) a brand claims it does ___ so I go buy it for that reason

Federal Trade Commission

was created in 1914 to prevent unfair competition and to monitor and deter false, fraudulent, misleading, or deceptive advertising

FTC 3 part test

1. must be representation, omission, or practice that is likely to mislead the consumer

2. the act or practice must be evaluated from the perspective of a reasonable consumer

3. the act must be material (likely to affect a consumer choice or use of a product)

Kinds of Speech and Constitutional Protection

1) artistic expression (high protection)
2) political speech (high protection)
3) commercial speech (middle protection)
4) corporate speech (middle protection)
5) slander/hate speech (limited/no protection)

Thoughts on Cain (2011)

Product Placement has historically been treated as a form of artistic expression

Associative marketing and so gets the highest level of free speech protection in the US

Consent Decree

a document that does not admit to deception, yet acknowledges that the advertiser will stop running the sanctioned ad

Cease and Desist Order

$10,000 a day fine if they do not sign the decree

Corrective Advertsing

done to counteract the effect of previous deceptive advertising

Advertising Self-Regulatory Council (ASRC)

establishes the policies and procedures for advertising self-regulation

National Advertising Division

main group that receives, evaluates, and acts on complaints from the public, from agencies and other business concerns, and from internal staff members

CARU

child-directed advertising complaints or issues

National Advertising Review Board (NARB)

70-person panel of professionals made up of 40 advertiser reps, 20 agency reps, and 10 publics reps. They evaluate advertiser appeals the NAD or CARU cannot resolve

Social Marketing

the process of using marketing techniques to persuade consumers to adopt the behaviors advocated by a social cause

Socially Responsible Advertising

requires an agreement between a non-profit (or cause) and a for-profit (advertiser) and the deal is struck to maximize perceived benefits to each partner

For-profit Advertiser Partner Goals

Associate its product with a perceived social good, boosting its appeal to a market segment that shares that perception

Increase a broader market segment's perceptions of the enterprise as socially-engaged and responsible

Derive bottom line benefits from increasing market share in the targeted segment!

Increased Interest by Causes

Causes (non-profits) clearly have something to gain by joining forces with corporations to develop advertising campaigns

-Direct financial support

-Increased awareness

-Validation

-Possibility of gaining volunteer workers since corporate employees may be encouraged to donate their time to supported causes

Primary Difference between Social Marketing and Socially responsible Advertising

in the messaging

An advertising campaign that used social marketing might include a TV spot to encourage people to recycle

A socially responsible advertising campaign might involve a TV spot promoting a product or brand by using a message that the product was built with 100% recycled parts or that it is good for the environment

3 Types of Advertising Messages for Socially Responsible Advertising

1. Social Issues linked with products

2. Social Issues linked with corporations

3. Corporate donations to social issues

Toms "One for One"

linked social issues with specific products

With these types of messages, the advertiser uses the product or service to draw consumers into the ad and creates a valuable link in the minds of consumeers

Social Issues Linked with Corporations

these types of messages feature social issues linked to companies, but without a link to a specific product or service

these messages position the company as one that cares about and is involved with a particular issue

ex) GE and Wind Energy, Pfizer, Subaru and the Environment/National Parks Service

Corporate Donations to Specific Issues

Advertisers donate a percentage of their profits to a specific cause and this contribution may be the focus of the advertising message or one of several attributes featured in the message

-This third category is the most commonly occurring type of socially responsible advertising because most companies already have some type of donation policy in place.

ex) Ben & Jerry's contributes $1.8 million of their pretax profits to a number of different charities, including environmental concerns and groups battling forced child labor

Socially Responsible Consumers

In the past several years, consumers have become concerned with not only the purchasing process, but also the production and consumption process

Greenwashing

exploiting a consumer by disingenuously marketing products or services as environmentally friendly, with the goal of gaining public approval and sales

PinkWashing

The practice of using the color pink and pink ribbons to indicate a company is helping to fight breast cancer, even when the company may be using chemicals linked to cancer

Ad Council

non-profit organization that helps produce public service advertising campaigns for government agencies and other qualifying groups

Reasons for Lack of Respect in Advertising

1. Pressures for short-term earnings

2. Client Pressures

3. Pressures to get and keep new business, which can cause agencies to treat other agencies with lack of respect

Commons' Dilemma

a phenomenon in which different members of a specific group (advertisers) face choices in which selfish, individualistic, or uncooperative decisions seem rational by virtue of short-term benefits, yet produce undesirable long-term consequences for the group as a whole

Moral Conduct

relates to principles of right, wrong, and fairness in behavior

"what is the right thing to do?" NOT "what can we get away with?"

Areas of Ethical Concern

1) Advertising of ethically questionable products or services

- EX: alcohol, tobacco, food and beverages, gambling, lottery, prescription drugs

2) Ethically questionable advertising practices

- EX: Targeting specific populations, sensitive subjects

Advertising in Schools

Faces the pressures of decreasing funding that makes it hard to say no

includes forms such as signage, exclusive product contracts, and lessons

Channel One

Offered schools free video and satellite equipment in exchange for package of current events programming w/ two minutes of commercials

Drumwright and Murphy (2004)

51 interviews, 29 agencies, 8 cities with varied departments, ages, genders, experience, types/size of agencies, billings

Two types: ethically active versus ethically impaired

"Seeing, Talking" Practitioners

Agencies that openly encourage ethical decisions and action

recognize moral issues and talk about the issues with co-workers and with clients

Recognition

See moral issues readily

Advertisers' role not simply doing the bidding of the client, but to make judgements and asserting opinions as would a trusted partner

Communication

Strong belief in the importance of overt, direct communication regarding ethical questions

Saying No

. Takes moral courage to say no to co-workers and/or to clients

"It's ok to get fired or resign"

Moral Imagination

Envisioning moral alternatives outside the box

Ethically Impaired

Advertising people can't see ethical problems, and they primarily see it as only affecting themselves

"Anyone stealing my ideas?"

Ethical problems at other levels not seen ex) on an organizational (agency/ client) & societal level

Moral Myopia

distortion of moral vision ranging from shortsightedness to near blindness, which affects an individual's perception of an ethical dilemma

also known as nearsightedness

Moral Muteness

"The absence of communicating moral concerns in settings where such communication would be fitting"

"Either not voicing moral concerns or communicating in ways that obscure moral beliefs and/ or concerns"

Consumers are Smart

Moral Myopia:

"Even if I tried to put out an unethical ad, no consumer would be dumb enough to believe it"

No need to be concerned, because consumers can't be misled, so no need to evaluate ethics of advertising messages

Passing the Buck

Moral Myopia:

"All we do is reflect society back on itself"

Merely reflecting image already present in society. Blame on these other things, not on advertising

What is legal is also ethical

Moral Myopia:

"It's really hard to be unethical in this business; we have to run everything by our lawyers."

If the agency attorneys approve it, then the advertisers feel themselves to be off the hook. This absolves advertisers from any ethical responsibility

First Amendment Misunderstanding

Moral Myopia:

"how could I develop a code of ethics for my agency? It would go against the first amendment"

Too, the First Amendment prohibits laws curtailing freedom of speech. It does not suggest all speech is of equal worthiness and value. Or that speakers are immune from being criticized for their speech.

Going Native

Moral Myopia:

"If I succeed, my clients succeed, too. So it doesn't feel like stretching the truth is doing anything wrong."

Becoming so close to the client's corporation and priorities that one fails to raise and ask questions about ethics

Ostrich Syndrome

Moral Myopia:

"putting your head in the sand" and ignoring the ethical issues

Compartmentalization

Moral Muteness:

Separate one's work life from one's personal life and personal convictions

Also involves separating the client's business standards from one's own standards

The Client is Always Right

"If I want to stay in business, I need to give my clients what they want."

Keeps agency in a subordinate position

Ethics is Bad for Business

"Ethical advertising means bland, ineffective work"

Such as a "sentence for blandness in advertising." Political correctness, and the like.

Pandora's Box Syndrome

"If we got bent out of shape over every ethical issue, we couldn't get anything done."

Once you start, you can't ever go back, and it gets out of control

Positive View of Native Advertising

provides more relevant messages, increases consumer engagement, and generates awareness and buzz about products

adds value for consumers

Negative View of Native Advertising

improperly exploits consumers' trust in a publisher or deceives them outright to influence their purchasing decisions

New FTC guidelines for Native Advertising

- Proximity/placement

- Prominence

- Clarity of meaning

Native Advertising Articles

articles on news websites or other web content providers that resemble the format of original content on the site.

often include featured brand or products, but not always very prominently.

sole distinguishing characteristic is disclosure statement that tells you its advertising.

Growth of Native Advertising

social-native is where the most money is spent

non-social native is growing at a faster rate than social

Native Advertising

paid ads that are so cohesive with the page content, assimilated into the design, and consistent with the platform behavior that the viewer simply feels that they belong

Two Problems With Native Advertising

1) Consumers have become increasingly skeptical or avoidant (ignoring or blocking) of most forms of advertising communication

2) Advertisers and marketers have, by necessity, crafted more entertaining, interesting, and meaningful advertising executions

Native Advertising Concerns

1) Who Benefits?

2) Can a "reasonable

consumer" tell that these

are advertising?

3) Do advertisers want the

consumer to know that

these are ads?

4) How can advertisers/

publishers/platforms/

regulators help?

5) What happens when

consumers do recognize the

content as advertising?

Disclosures in Native

advertising recognition typically leads to more critical evaluation of claims made regarding brand/products

If consumers are unaware that a message is an ad, theymay not access relevant attitudes (skepticism)

Advertisers and their Digital Partners

if you disclose, it decreases KPIs

if you do not disclose, it may result in negative press or regulatory punishment

Sponsorship Transparency

a consumer's perception of the extent to which a message makes its paid nature and the identity of the sponsor clear

Practical Implications of Transparency

Help consumers recognize the content as advertising

-Benefits all parties involved

-Don't assume that advertising recognition results in negative consequences

-Being upfront in communicating the advertising nature can mitigate some of the

negative consequence of advertising recognition

-May risk being perceived as deceptive, dishonest, or untrustworthy otherwise

Embrace transparency but don't assume your efforts will get you there.

-Disclosures increase sponsorship transparency but so do other forms of information

(banner ads, pre-roll, other potential ways)

-Managers and practitioners could pretest consumer perceptions using sponsorship

transparency

-A lot of future research resides here