Truth & Ethics in Advertising

Read the following article: Ethics in Advertising

http://www.aef.com/on_campus/classroom/speaker_pres/data/3001

This article provides a synopsis of our classroom discussions, lectures and textbook readings. While some topics we have yet to discuss, such as advertising to children, this article will provide you with thoughts and ideas for upcoming ethical topics. (Links to some of the commercial examples cited within the article were not available, although you may be able to find them on online sites.)

Post your answers by Wednesday, February 25th at 12pm (noon).

Write an ethical analysis, or your takeaway, from this article.

Analysis to include areas such as:

- What thoughts, questions or issues arose will reading this article?

- The author asks some poignant questions throughout the article. Do you agree/disagree with the author's viewpoint regarding ethical issues in advertising? How would you answer those questions?

- What other areas within advertising pose ethical challenges for advertisers?

Please support your analysis with facts and evidence from lectures, discussions, textbooks and other sources. Avoid the "I" or "Me" opinions.

Let's Talk Ethics at 11am!

ETHICAL DILEMMA
“The city’s best hamburger” is the slogan for “Billy’s Burgers”, a local burger joint. How can Billy’s Burgers make this claim? Billy’s Burgers states that they sell a higher volume of burgers per day then their competitors, and used the number of customers who placed orders to substantiate the claim. The competition feels the claim is not justified as Billy’s Burgers is located in the center of town, near a high traffic area. For the competition, it’s simply the factor of location that provides Billy’s Burgers with more customer volume. It has nothing to do with the quality or taste of the hamburger.

Questions

Is Billy’s Burgers substantiation for the slogan “The city’s best hamburger” justified?