In "Advertising: Its Logic, Ethics and Economics," Alex Michalos quotes a well-known definition of advertising, first suggested by James Littlefield and Charles Kirkpatrick in 1970: "Advertising is mass communication of information intended to persuade buyers so as to maximize dollar profits." The Littlefield/Kirkpatrick definition is a useful outline of the players (buyers and sellers, the sellers being aided by advertisers), mechanisms (information sharing and persuasion), and motives (making as much money as possible from the sale of a product or service) that characterize most advertising.
Forms of Deceptive Advertising
As editors Deborah Poff and Wilfred Waluchow point out in Business Ethics in Canada, there are a number of different ways in which advertisements can be deceptive. Lying, which they define as "the deliberate utterance of a falsehood with the clear intention to deceive," is only one example. This definition highlights the fact that lying, and other forms of deception, are intentional—it is the purpose of the deceiver to cause another person to hold false beliefs.
Other forms of deceptive advertising include withholding or underplaying relevant information; making claims that, while true, are intended to imply false conclusions; and hyperbole, or what is referred to as puffery in advertising terminology, in which exaggerated and sometimes fantastical words and images are associated with a product or service. A relatively recent example is the Nestea "plunge" advertisements in which the drink is so refreshing that a pool of water opens up and the drinker plunges into it.
Unfortunately, deceptive practices employed in advertising mean that consumers may receive false or misleading information and, based on that information, make decisions to purchase ineffective or even harmful products or services.
Hyperbole in Advertising
The use of hyperbole in advertising is a necessity in the free market system in which advertisers operate. If advertisements only provided information to consumers, which should certainly be the key function of advertising, it would be extremely difficult for shoppers to choose between virtually indistinguishable products and services, or even to recall the features of these items when actually making a purchase. As Phillip Nelson points out in "Advertising and Ethics," hyperbole is what makes advertising more memorable, and thus allows advertising to better perform its information function.
Alex Michalos goes even further to suggest that without some way to distinguish between products and services, there will be little incentive for consumers to shop carefully or for producers to advertise at all; shoppers would be left to choose between, for example, soaps that all have the same features, and producers would essentially take a free ride as their products or services would be just as likely as any other to be selected.
Nevertheless, hyperbole is a form of deception. While it may not be intended to deceive because a reasonable person is expected to realize that the advertisement is an exaggeration, hyperbole still distorts the information function of advertising. It can only be justified if it is always readily recognizable as an exaggeration so that there is no potential for increased risk of serious harm to consumers as a result of misleading advertising.
The Risk of Harm in Advertising
As noted previously, lying can be defined as the intent to deceive through the deliberate utterance of a falsehood. It is likely a relatively infrequent form of deception compared to other types of misleading advertising for it opens up advertisers and producers to greater liability. When an advertiser does make false claims, is it reasonable to expect consumers to realize they are false in the same way they realize hyperbole is an exaggeration?
Clearly, even the most careful and skeptical consumer is more likely to understand that the Nestea "plunge" is an exaggeration of the refreshing benefits of the drink than to realize that a product advertised for fast weight loss might in fact involve a false claim of effectiveness. Given that it is much less obvious in this case when an advertiser is making a false claim, there is more potential for consumers to be harmed by the false claim. At the very least, consumers will suffer a financial loss as a result of purchasing an ineffective product.
In contrast to lying, deceptive practices such as withholding information or making legitimate claims that lead consumers to make false conclusions allow advertisers to be persuasive without actually making any false statements about the products or services they are trying to sell. In "Truth in the Marketplace," Burton M. Leiser suggests that this type of deception may be even more harmful than outright lying. Whereas false claims of effectiveness may cause no harm other than the financial loss associated with buying the product, the withholding or underplaying of relevant information about a product may conceal the product's harmful effects from the consumer.
Again, even the most careful and skeptical consumer, who may in fact be able to avoid making any false inferences based on advertisements, is not likely to be aware of the withholding or underplaying of relevant information. There is, therefore, an increased risk of serious harm to consumers as a result of this type of deception, including, but not limited to, damage to their health and wellbeing due to harmful or dangerous products.
A Middle Ground
In sum, a balance must be found between advertising that provides essential information to consumers and advertising that allows producers to sell their products and services. A middle ground that allows for limited persuasive techniques (i.e. exaggeration) but requires advertisers to be truthful and prevent harm to consumers is a reasonable approach.
References:
- Leiser, Burton M. "Truth in the Marketplace." Ethical Issues in Professional Life. Ed. Joan C. Callahan. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.
- Michalos, Alex C. "Advertising: Its Logic, Ethics and Economics." Business Ethics in Canada. Eds. Deborah Poff and Wilfred Waluchow. Scarborough, ON: Prentice-Hall, 1987.
- Nelson, Phillip. "Advertising and Ethics." Ethical Issues in Professional Life. Ed. Joan C. Callahan. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.
- Poff, Deborah and Wilfred Waluchow, eds. Business Ethics in Canada. Scarborough, ON: Prentice-Hall, 1987.
Jennifer McNeil Bertrand - Jennifer McNeil Bertrand is an association professional with a background in English Literature and Communications.
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