ETHICAL DILEMMA
Lauren is the creative director at a major ad agency. She heard of some
billing practices involving a print project for a candy client that bothered her. It turns out that the print costs for the project had exceeded budget by $20,000. (The project budget was only $30,000.)
Asking the candy client for an additional $20,000 would be a problem. A fellow agency staffer struck a deal with the printer and added $20,000 to the bill of another of the agency’s large clients, an automobile company, who had a much larger budget and could afford the large bill.
This solution seemed to work out for all. The candy client did not know how far over budget the agency had gone; the printer got paid for all of the work it had done; and the agency did not have to eat its mistake.
QUESTION
If the agency had had a code of ethics, how could this over-budget situation been remedied in a more ethical manner?
Lauren is the creative director at a major ad agency. She heard of some
billing practices involving a print project for a candy client that bothered her. It turns out that the print costs for the project had exceeded budget by $20,000. (The project budget was only $30,000.)
Asking the candy client for an additional $20,000 would be a problem. A fellow agency staffer struck a deal with the printer and added $20,000 to the bill of another of the agency’s large clients, an automobile company, who had a much larger budget and could afford the large bill.
This solution seemed to work out for all. The candy client did not know how far over budget the agency had gone; the printer got paid for all of the work it had done; and the agency did not have to eat its mistake.
QUESTION
If the agency had had a code of ethics, how could this over-budget situation been remedied in a more ethical manner?
They could have been honest with the client and offered them some other deal or something to make up for the mistake, like free business in the future.
ReplyDeleteThe other solution is to be fully accountable and eat the cost of the mistake after all it was their mistake
Valid points, Correne.
ReplyDeletethe agency and the printer could have told the candy client of the reasoning for the over budget and perhaps ask for a payment plan to cover the already in production costs. If not, the advertising company and printer need to take a portion of what was used to make the extra 20,000 worth of prints and remove them from the original amount. this would have cut into the candy clients original print amount BUT it would have been within budget like they asked for it to be in the first place.
ReplyDeleteYou both have made good points. These are the type of day-to-day ethical scenarios that play out in advertising agencies (and other businesses, of course).
ReplyDeleteThis ethical dilemma leads us into our discussion today...
We are going to spend our time today discussing why we are spending a semester (15 weeks!) talking about ethics + advertising.
ps- i also agree with correne
ReplyDeleteTell me how ethics plays into the everyday life of someone working in advertising?
ReplyDeleteEthics is IN the everyday life of someone working in advertising. By this I mean that ethics is something we will commonly be faced with even on a weekly or daily basis in our profession.
ReplyDeleteCan you give me an example, Correne?
ReplyDeletesimple, a person working for an advertising firm needs to know the companies code of ethics. when something doesn't look right then it probably isn't. taking shortcuts will catch up to the company and then lawsuits are made and the reputation for the company and service is tainted. mistakes will be made but when it is over looked, it makes everyone else look bad. it does not just affect one person, it affects the whole company
ReplyDeleteRight.
ReplyDeletePeople in advertising spend a lot of their time dealing with ethical choices. Because ads are made of choices: What to show ... and what not to show. What to say ... and how to say it. Who to put in the ad ... and who not to.
To sum it up, ethical decisions happen everyday in every meeting with fellow agency coworkers or when meeting with clients.
we will always have to balance our benefit with ethics. What clients we choose to do business with is an ethical decision, how we market our products, how we conduct research everything we do will have an ethical decision involved
ReplyDeleteTell me about the different personnel roles within an ad agency.
ReplyDeleteCreative director, account executive, writer, designer.
ReplyDeletecould you elaborate on that question?
ReplyDeleteoh. you meant positions in a company. like job positions?
ReplyDeleteWhat are the different jobs that exist within an ad agency?
ReplyDeleteWhile every agency is structured is differently, Correne mentioned the main job positions/roles: creative director, account exec, copywriter.
ReplyDeleteLet's look at some of these roles in-depth.
How do ethics factor into the account exec's role?
promotions, sales manager
ReplyDeletethey are in charge of the budget and where the money flows from the business end, through the advertising company, and finally the final outcome of the money's transitions.
ReplyDeleteCreative director: oversees the creative aspects of the account and keeps people on concept. They may have to deal with ethics of ad content and its audiences, how the message will be recieved.
ReplyDeleteAcct execu: deals with the client and all related business.they may have to deny some of the client's requests as they apply to ethics.
Writer: does the copy for the ad or dialogue.They must have ethical content and include all information about product.
Designer: deals in graphics and visual representation, again content.
You nailed one aspect of an account exec's job, Frankie. But talk in terms of ethics. What ethical dilemmas and/or decisions are account exec's faced with in their job?
ReplyDeleteAny thoughts?!
ReplyDeleteI dont know what exactly their job is so I cant answer.
ReplyDeletewhen it comes to the account executive, what it boils down to is the budget. the account executive must know how to manipulate the budget of the company to match their specifications without going over and maximizing the quality or quantity of the product as well as the time and service it takes to complete this agenda.
ReplyDeleteI'll plan for a short lecture this semester on the different jobs of the various personnel roles within an agency. I know you'll find it interesting!
ReplyDeleteIn a nutshell however, an account exec. is the liaison between the client and the agency, working with a client from the initial pitch all the way through to delivering the final piece (be it a print ad, commercial, website, etc).
Yes, the budget is one aspect of an account exec. job. They must remain on budget and be honest with both the company and the client if they are to exceed budget. This is one example of a daily ethical dilemma.
ReplyDeleteLet's move on to the creative director.
How do ethics factor into the creative director’s role?
They may have to deal with ethics of ad content and its audiences, how the message will be recieved.
ReplyDeleteRight. And if we remember the 3 core concepts of ethics, of which one of them was "intention". The creative director must always be thinking of the intention of the creative, how it will be received, where it will be seen and who will be seeing it.
ReplyDeleteLet's think back to last semester's copywriting class.
ReplyDeleteHow do ethics factor into the copywriter’s role?
since the creative director is the person in charge of ideas and being "original" they much do the company in which they are doing business with justice. a repeat of an ad that has been changed to suit this companies image is just being lazy and not providing true quality in their creative aspects.
ReplyDeleteThey must also be concerned with how the message will be received. Are they representing true information about the product.
ReplyDeleteGood point Frankie as it pertains to being truthful to creative ideas. One cannot "steal" or "modify" a published idea. Producing original work is an aspect of ethics.
ReplyDeletethe words of the copy writing must deliver. it has to gain the viewers attention and try to make them act upon the advertisements request without being unethical in what they are saying. the word choices must not be misleading and all the fine print must be there for law purposes as well as supportive claims
ReplyDeleteExactly, Correne. This brings us back to our lecture from last week where we discussed "objective" versus "subjective" message appeals. If we are writing objective copy, we must be factual and have proof to back-up our claims.
ReplyDeleteSo as we can see, each person working in an agency has unique ethical concerns to content with on a daily basis. Like I said, I'll put together a discussion to help you better understand the different roles within an agency. This will also help you understand how ethics factors in to these different jobs.
ReplyDeleteAs a print ad or radio/TV commercial is making its way through an agency, at what point could the creative piece (i.e. print ad, TV commercial) become compromised in terms of ethics?
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to content, are they misrepresenting the product? Are being mindful of their audiences?
ReplyDeleteif it is misleading. example: showing an image and saying it is 50% off when the image is not part of the sale.
ReplyDeleteYes. It is at the creative stage that the truth (or ethics) is tested, i.e. substituting an image for something prettier, even though that prettier item is not the one on sale.
ReplyDeleteIt’s at this stage of the advertising process that will establish the environment upon which consumers and regulators judge the message as truth.
So then, which one is more important in advertising? Creativity or Ethics? Or, can the two co-exist?
ReplyDeleteThe two do and must co-exist. They are equally important an essential to creating any ad.
ReplyDeleteTell me a little about how learning about advertising ethics going to make you a more creative (and not to mention, more ethical) advertising professional.
ReplyDeletethey both need to co-exist to make the ad effective. if you just have ethics, then the ad might be boring and just part of every day clutter. if you just use creative, it might be misleading and so abstract it loses the audience. having ethics makes a more structured creative ad more solid
ReplyDeleteI don't believe ethics will make me more creative. I believe ethics will serve as a necessary boundary for my creativity.
ReplyDeleteCorrene, what do you think...
ReplyDeleteTell me a little about how learning about advertising ethics going to make you a more creative (and not to mention, more ethical) advertising professional.
We've determined that ethics + creativity must co-exist. This is good.
ReplyDeleteSo, then why is learning about advertising ethics important to you as you go forward into the working world?
i consider ethics making something creative and original more possible. yes it is more limiting because we have to follow the ethical guidelines but there is nothing wrong with some structure. it allows us the advertisers to be more creative in what we can and cannot do and what will follows the rules.
ReplyDeleteIt is important because like we mentioned before, we will be faced with ethical issues quite often in our profession. We need to know exactly where our ethical stance is in order to conduct ourselves accordingly in the professional world.
ReplyDeleteI dont believe ethics will make me more creative, I really dont.
A January 2007 USA Today – Gallup poll, asked how much we trust people in certain professions. Teachers and nurses were at the top at over 80%. Those in the advertising industry were at the bottom with used cars salesmen.
ReplyDeleteWhat can those of us in the advertising business do to improve our image and reputation, especially where ethics are concerned?
learning the ethics in advertising will better us when we do business and know automatically what is ethical and what is not. we also have to understand the companies policy vs our own personal ethics that we live by
ReplyDeleteA big one is how we conduct ourselves socially. If we buy into our professions or its stigma than we walk around interacting as if were always trying to sell something or have personal interests. We have to remain real, and honest people.
ReplyDeleteAlso, our work output will speak for itself we need to follow ethical codes to reverse that reputation not confirm it.
You both make good points. As you continue to learn more about the ad business, your knowledge of how ethics factors in will only continue to grow.
ReplyDeletewhen it comes to advertising we must not leave out ANYTHING that is important for the consumer to know. this could be something that is based on selective items, time, place, exceptions etc. the way I see it, we need an emphasis on these exceptions not just fine print since we tend to over look it and its only there for legal purposes
ReplyDeleteConsumers want products that are not only quality, but also help the world. Here’s an interesting fact for you: There has been a massive shift in how important the company’s ethics are since 9/11. Before 9/11, only 54% of consumers would be likely to switch brands if it meant supporting a cause. After 9/11, 81% of consumers would be likely to switch brands in order to support a cause.
ReplyDeleteAdvertising agencies are doing their part and are helping to make the world a better place. One example of this is the Tap Project created by NYC agency, Droga5. It was a project created in unison with Unicef to help increase the amount of the world’s clean drinking water by 50% by 2015.
Check out the commercial created for Cannes (the international advertising festival): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uzs-Lm0AvRU
What are some advertising campaigns that are helping to make the world a better place?
RED the campaign for AIDS
ReplyDeleteSusan G. Comen Race for the cure for breast cancer
Yes, those are good examples, Correne.
ReplyDeleteFrankie, any campaign ideas that are making the world a better (and more ethical) place?
ReplyDeleteusing celebrities and name brand magazines.
ReplyDeleteSorry Frankie, I meant from a company standpoing, like Unicef, Red for Aids, Susan G. Komen for Breast Cancer.
ReplyDeletesocial vibe. and online networking site that allows the user to create their own charitable organization with many companies contributing to them a dollar at a time with each user that joins.
ReplyDeleteI knew you would be in with the social networking scene! These are great examples of how we can pair our creativity + ethics to improve our reputation and make the world a better place for everyone.
ReplyDeleteThis is why ethics is so important as we learn about the ad industry.
Good discussion today. Do you feel you have a better understanding of why this Adv. Ethics class is taking place?
ReplyDeleteETHICS HOMEWORK REMINDER
ReplyDelete- Chapter 5 for Thursday, Feb. 26th
- Article Journaling answers for Wednesday, Feb. 25th at 12pm
- “Closed Circuit Programming” due Thursday, Feb. 26th
oAvoid “I” or “Me” opinions
oWant evidence and facts from the textbook and other supporting material
oUse terminology and concepts discussed in class lectures
-BRING YOUR TEXTBOOKS TO CLASS!!!
this class is very important and not just for us advertisement majors, for other majors as well because ethics affects every profession
ReplyDelete