Essays

Advertising - its Uses and Abuses

Category : Essays

Advertising is the communication link between the seller Hid the buyer or the consumer. It does not simply provide

information about the products and services but is an active attempt at influencing people to action by an overt appeal to reason or emotion. Advertising may be in any form of presentation. It may be a sign, a symbol, an illustration, an ltd message in a magazine or a newspaper, a commercial on the radio or television, a circular dispatched through the mail or a pamphlet - handed out at a street corner, a sketch or a message on a billboard or a poster. Any form of presentation which an advertiser wants to make. Advertising is communication with many consumers of products and services. To communicate with a large group, we put the advertising message through mass media like the press, magazine and TV Ethics in advertising is concerned with good and bad, with reference to a particular culture at a given point of time. It represents a set of Moral and principal values. Ethical advertising contains truth, not absolute truth by socially accepted standards of honesty as truth. It has to be right towards its approach and claim. Truth in ethical advertising is valued because an advertiser indulging in untruth will be spotted sooner or later. He will lose goodwill forever, not only for one product, but also possibly for his entire product line. Hasty truth in advertising should be valued for its own sake. Ads offering mixtures and substances which promise gains like right growth of hair "by the use of a specific company's oil, generally make patently false claims. The exaggeration in consumer advertisements is not only in headlines, body copy and slogans but also in the strong visuals. The Mouth watering visuals of television ads of ice creams, cakes, biscuits, chocolates, jellies and yoghurt are created with Models that have nothing to do with the look, the feel and the taste of the actual products. Advertising of alcoholic drinks and tobacco are banned in the broadcasting Media and in cinema but still advertisers go around these prohibitions and indirectly promote through soda and Mineral water. These indirect ads are called Surrogate ads. To sum up, advertising does reflect the changing social, economic and cultural values. While doing so it should not lose sight of the development perspective.

Advertising is what people see and they believe in that. An identified sponsor should promote it. The advertisements

that are required to be shown should contain some message and they should convey some meaning to the people. The social ethics should be considered in' mind keeping in view the culture and traditions of the people. There should be a promise made by the advertiser where he/she is conveying a message to its target audience. The target audience is an important criterion that one has to keep in mind while advertising for the desired product or service. Advertising should be meaningful and truthful. It should help to promote the desired product in a proper manner. The medium is the channel through which the ad messages have to be conveyed. The advertisements should be property conveyed and the best medium should be selected for proper promotional schemes. The newspapers magazines are a form of print media whereas television, radio, cinema arc a form of electronic media. Outdoor advertising is also one of the forms of advertising strike the hoardings, bill boards etc. So, all the factors have to be kept in mind while conducting advertising for the intended target audience.


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