Is Advertising Immoral

1
Is Advertising Immoral?

• PHIL106 2009
• Dan Turton

2
Recap

• Justify your ethical claims!
• By providing at least one good reason to believe
  your ethical claim
• And (even better)
• By also providing at least one good reason not to
  believe your opponents ethical claim

3
Does Advertising Manipulate Us?Reekies Defense
of Advertising

• PHIL106 2009
• Dan Turton

4
Topic Summary

• Does advertising manipulate us?
• Reekies defense of advertising
• Does advertising manipulate us?
• Crisps limited critique of advertising
• Does advertising make us unhappy?
• Belch vs. Hamilton
• Does advertising make us unhappy?
• Hamilton again and wrap up

5
Today

• Start addressing the question
• Is advertising immoral?
• An explanation of advertising
• A defense of advertising
• Setting up some of the moral issues

6
Advertising is

• Communication from a specific source that intends
  to inform and influence the audience so that they
  believe something and/or behave in a certain way
• It is usually
• Persuading people to purchase a brand/product
• Paid for
• Using mass media
• But some marketers are much sneakier

7
Advertising might also be

• Rosser Reeves
• Manager of a successful advertising company
• While holding up two coins
• Making you think that this quarter is more
  valuable than that one

8
The Role of Advertising

• Advertising supports marketing and business
  function.
• A modern business model
• Perform consumer research
• Develop new product based on research
• Advertise product
• Sell product
• Importantly, both the business and the consumers
  are thought to benefit from this

9
The Benefits of Advertising

• Advertising helps consumers decide what to buy
• Informs about the existence of new products
• Informs about new uses for existing products
• Informs about differences between products
  laundry powder razors
• Advertising provides incentives to
• Make differentiated products, and
• Innovative products
• Who doesnt like PS3s, wi-fi, iphones?

10
The Benefits of Advertising 2

• Advertising is entertainment
• Many ads are
• Funny
• Interesting
• Artistic
• Appealing in other ways

11
The Benefits of Advertising 3

• Advertising is good for the economy
• It is a huge industry
• It employs a lot of people
• It stimulates economic growth by connecting more
  of consumers needs and wants with solutions
• Economic growth is good
• Means you can get more things you want

12
The Benefits of Advertising 4

• Winston Churchill
• Advertising nourishes the consuming power of
  men. It creates wants for a better standard of
  living It spurs individual exertion and greater
  production.
• Advertising improves our well-being

13
So, Whats Wrong with Advertising?

• Apparently, advertising deceives people into
  buying things that they dont really need
• Apparently, advertising lies, deceives and
  misleads
• Apparently, advertising makes people think they
  need things that they shouldnt even want
• Some people even think it makes us unhappy!

14
Advertising Doesnt Lie

• Reasons why advertisers dont lie
• Misleading ads are reported and removed from
  circulation
• ASA Truthful Presentation - Advertisements
  should not contain any statement which is
  likely to deceive or mislead the consumer or
  exploits his/her lack of experience or
  knowledge.
• ASA (Obvious hyperbole, identifiable as such,
  is not considered to be misleading).

15
Advertising Doesnt Lie

• Reasons why advertisers dont lie
• Misleading ads are reported and removed from
  circulation
• Lies about product quality are soon discovered,
  making the lying company go out of business
• Really important product categories have extra
  regulations to prevent lying
• Advertisers dont want to tarnish the reputation
  of advertising generally

16
Advertising Doesnt Make Us Buy Things We Dont
Need

• Advertising never forces anyone to do anything
• Advertising does influence our purchase decisions
  (at least it intends to)
• But what is wrong with that?
• Advertising cant encourage you to want something
  you really dont need
• Advertising can only help you fulfill wants and
  needs you already have

17
Should Advertising be Allowed to Help Us Fulfill
Our Wants?

• Should we stop people from helping others to
  fulfill their wants?
• Depends on the wants
• Some things we want are bad for others
• Slaves, over-sized cars, blow-off valves
• Some things we want are bad for ourselves
• Cigarettes, highly processed foods, blow-off
  valves

18
Should Advertising Help Us Fulfill Our Wants?

• Advertising obviously shouldnt encourage or help
  people to harm others but
• Who should decide what we should and shouldnt
  want (for our own good)?
• What is better, freedom or having the government
  protect us from our own wants?
• Why shouldnt I be able to do whatever I want
  with my money (without hurting others)?
• Consumer Sovereignty Surely I have that right!
• Where do we draw the line?

19
Summary

• Advertising is good because
• It helps consumers decide what to buy
• It provides incentives for innovation
• At least some of it is entertaining
• Its good for the economy
• It allows us to improve our lives (as we see fit)
  by helping us to satisfy our wants and needs
• Busting the myths about advertising
• Advertising does not lie or deceive
• Advertising cannot make people buy things they
  dont want

20
Next Time

• Read
• Roger Crisps Persuasive Advertising, Autonomy,
  and the Creation of Desire
• Get ready to discuss
• Why advertising actually is immoral it creates
  desires in us that we cannot even attempt to
  reject

21
Does Advertising Manipulate Us?Crisps Limited
Critique of Advertising

• PHIL106 2009
• Dan Turton

22
Last Time

• Advertising is good because
• It helps consumers decide what to buy
• It provides incentives for innovation
• At least some of it is entertaining
• Its good for the economy
• It allows us to improve our lives (as we see fit)
  by helping us to satisfy our wants and needs
• Busting the myths about advertising
• Advertising does not lie or deceive
• Advertising cannot make people buy things they
  dont want

23
Today

• Looking at an argument that a certain type of
  advertising is immoral
• Roger Crisp thinks
• Persuasive advertising is immoral because it
  overrides our autonomy

24
Informative Adverts

• Crisp informative advertising is usually OK
  because it facilitates (not overrides) the
  desire-making process
• E.g. Jacket on sale
• He already wanted that kind of jacket, now he
  knows where to get it (for cheap)

25
Persuasive Adverts

• Crisp persuasive advertising is immoral because
  it overrides our autonomy (our ability to make
  purchase decisions for ourselves)
• E.g. subliminal ads?
• The desire for the product itself is created

26
How Subliminal Ads Work

• Unconscious emotional manipulation by
• Suggestion, or
• Association
• If you are aware of seeing/hearing it, then its
  not subliminal advertising
• (or its a failed attempt at subliminal
  advertising)

27
Subliminal Ad. Attempts?
28
Subliminal Ad. Attempts?
29
The One Drink to Rule them All?
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The Truth about Subliminal Ads

• Subliminal ads alone cant make you buy something
  that you didnt want
• Purchasing a product is too complex a behaviour
  for subliminal ads to control
• Unconscious priming works sometimes
• Some priming is rejected

31
Arrington Autonomous Desire

• Desires are autonomous if we accept them
• E.g. Arrington sees an ad for hair dye
• He desires hair dye because he desires to look
  younger
• And, he is perfectly happy to have both of those
  desires
• Therefore, (according to him) his desire for hair
  dye is autonomous

32
Crisp Autonomous Desire

• Is Arringtons desire autonomous?
• What if the ad showed a man (with 100 not-grey
  hair) in a position of authority and surrounded
  by beautiful women?
• Perhaps Arrington's real desires were for power
  and sex

33
Crisp How Adverts Persuade

• They appeal to our unconscious desires
• Crisp they might appeal to our unconscious
  desires for power and sex

34
Subtle Sex Appeal
35
Unconscious Desires?

• The unconscious desire for sex
• Makes us laugh at jokes that arent funny
• The unconscious desire for power
• is the best indicator of power these days
• Makes us angry/disappointed if we dont get that
  promotion/job we were after
• Also makes us laugh at jokes that arent funny

36
Evolution by Natural Selection

• Organisms that have a lot of traits that led them
  to have lots of sex and power in their
  environment
• Had more offspring
• Therefore, we should expect to see a lot of
  traits that are conducive to getting sex and
  power
• Explaining why we are very good at recognising
  opportunities for getting sex and power

37
Unconscious Desires

• Advertisers dont always target sex and power
  though
• Most ads for FMCGs are targeted at women or women
  and children
• Remember that Persil makes your clothes whiter?
• Well, thats not all it does
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vxuTspd9lFFEfeature
  related

38
Crisp Rational Desire

• Persuasive advertising creates irrational desires
• If our main desire for a product is subconscious,
  then rationality doesnt even come into it - we
  cannot possibly accept it or even consider it!
• Remember that an autonomous desire is one that we
  accept
• Imagine Crisp subconsciously desires hair dye
  that certainly seems irrational

39
Crisp Free Choice

• Being able to provide any old reason for why you
  bought something isnt necessarily helpful
• I like Meow Mix, I like Grecian Formula 16
• We need to weigh up the relevant reasons in order
  to make a free choice
• Persuasive advertising uses reasons that we are
  not aware of and so cannot evaluate

40
Crisp Control or Manipulation

• You control someone if you make them do something
  for reasons that they would not consider
  reasonable.
• Making Crisp do a jig (by tying ropes to his
  limbs) just because I feel like it would be
  controlling him
• Adverts can do this

41
Crisps General Argument

• Persuasive advertising creates the desire for a
  product by associating it with sex, power or some
  other thing that is commonly and subconsciously
  craved
• Therefore, the real reason for the desire is
  hidden from us
• Therefore, the desire is not autonomous
• Therefore, persuasive advertising overrides our
  autonomy (which is immoral)

42
Summary

• Persuasive advertising uses subconscious
  associations to try to make us desire products
• Crisp thinks it works and that is immoral because
  it overrides our autonomy
• It must work to some extent, or persuasive
  advertising probably wouldnt be so widespread
• Is it manipulative enough to be immoral, though?

43
Next Time

• Read
• Belch Belch Economic Effects of Advertising
• Get ready to discuss
• Does advertising make us happy or unhappy?

44
Does Advertising Makes Us Unhappy?Belch vs.
Hamilton

• PHIL106 2009
• Dan Turton

45
Recap of Crisp

• Persuasive advertising uses subconscious
  associations to try to make us desire products
• Crisp thinks it works and that is immoral because
  it overrides our autonomy
• It must work to some extent, or persuasive
  advertising probably wouldnt be so widespread
• Is it manipulative enough to be immoral, though?

46
Today

• The advertisers argument for how advertising
  makes us happier
• Hamiltons criticism of that argument

47
Problem Margin of Discontent

• Margin of discontent Gap between what we have
  and what we want
• Happiness satisfaction with how your life is
  going (no discontent)
• Examples of things that might discontent people
• You have a Corolla, but you want an Evo
• You work at McDs, but you want a job at Logan
  Brown
• You have a 14 TV, but you want a 21

48
Hamiltons Solutions to the Margin of Discontent

• Hamilton mentions two possible solutions,
• but he thinks that the first solution doesnt
  seem to work
• Economic growth solution
• People satisfy their wants by increasing their
  possessions, thus becoming happier
• Sages solution
• Give up wanting

49
Neo-Liberal (Advertisers) Argument(Roughly
According to Hamilton)

• Reducing the margin of discontent makes people
  happier
• Economic growth helps consumers to reduce their
  margin of discontent
• Advertising encourages economic growth
• Advertising helps consumers to make better
  decisions about how to reduce the margin of
  discontent
• c) Therefore, advertising helps make people
  happier

50
Hamiltons Refutation of the Neo-Liberal
(Advertisers) Argument

• More (economic growth) does not make us
  happier
• Therefore, P2 is false
• Advertising does not help consumers to make
  better decisions about how to reduce the margin
  of discontent
• Therefore, P4 is false

51
Does Make Us Happy?

• Reducing the margin of discontent makes people
  happier
• Economic growth helps consumers to reduce their
  margin of discontent
• If 1. and 2. are both
• true, then why have
• we gotten richer
• but not happier?
• Evidence?

52
(No Transcript)
53
Materialism Doesnt Pay
Very High
54
Adaptation

• Lottery winners return to pretty much the same
  level of happiness after 1 year
• The more we have
• The more we want and
• The more we think we need
• Evidence?

55
So, Does Make Us Happy?

• So, unless you are materialistic, more makes
  very little difference to our happiness much
  less than
• A rewarding job
• A loving relationship
• Volunteering
• But materialistic people seem to have a pretty
  strange idea of happiness
• Having said all this who would not want to win
  lotto?

56
Possible Neo-Liberal Response(Consumer
Sovereignty)

• Remember Consumer Sovereignty?
• Regardless of happiness, we have a right to do
  what we want with our money
• Economic growth gives people more freedom to
  choose whatever they wish to do with their lives
  and their money
• Without advertising consumers would find it very
  difficult to exercise this freedom

57
Hamilton Fights Back

• Advertisers claim to be helping consumers to
  freely choose how to best satisfy their needs and
  wants but this is false!
• Consumers do not freely choose between products
  because advertising manipulates our preferences
  (Consumer Sovereignty is a myth)
• More choice doesnt help us satisfy our needs and
  wants
• Therefore, P4 is false

58
Consumer Sovereignty is a Myth!

• Consumers do not freely choose between products
  because advertising manipulates our preferences
• Our preferences are formed inside, not outside,
  of the marketplace
• Indeed, consumers values, goals and personal
  identities are all formed inside the marketplace!
• Evidence?

59
The Abundance of Real Choice is a Myth

• The abundance of choices advertising provides are
  limited to meaningless choices between variations
  of things that we didnt need in the first place
• Most advertising, unfortunately, is devoted to
  an attempt to build up irrational preferences
  for certain brands to persuade consumers to
  buy Bumpo rather than Bango Prof. Boulding
• Evidence?

60
How Well Did Hamilton Fight Back?

• Advertisers claim to be helping consumers to
  freely choose how to best satisfy their needs and
  wants
• Hamilton claims that
• Advertising coerces consumers into satisfying the
  greedy financial wants of businesses, not their
  own wants or needs
• Advertising doesnt provide more real choice, so
  it doesnt help consumers choose what they really
  want

61
Summary You Decide

• Does advertising make us happier by making us
  richer?
• Or do we adapt to and waste our extra income on
  things that dont make us happy?
• Does advertising help us decide how best to
  satisfy our needs wants?
• Or does it make it harder to decide between a
  bunch of irrelevantly differentiated options?

62
Next Time

• Read
• Clive Hamilton Identity
• Get ready to discuss
• Hamiltons idea that the whole point of
  advertising is to make us dissatisfied
• Get ready to discuss
• Test tips!

63
Does Advertising Makes Us Unhappy? Hamilton
Again Wrap Up

• PHIL 106 2009
• Dan Turton

64
Today

• A quick recap, then
• Clive Hamilton's argument that advertising makes
  us unhappy and is therefore immoral, then
• A summary of the whole morality of advertising
  section
• Tips for the test

65
Last Time Margin of Discontent

• Gap between what we have and what we want
• You have a Corolla, but you want an Evo
• You have a 14 TV, but you want a 21
• You generally have old slow small smelly stuff
  but you want newer faster bigger better cooler
  stuff
• All kinds of things, not just things you can buy
  from shops

66
Last Time How Advertising Makes Us Happy

• Advertising helps solve the problem of the margin
  of discontent in two ways
• Economic growth solution
• It gives everyone more to buy the things they
  want
• Better choices solution
• It helps consumers make better want-satisfying
  choices

67
Last Time Hamiltons Refutation of the
Neo-Liberal Argument

• More (economic growth) does not make us
  happier
• For most people, a bit more money will not make
  them noticeably happier
• Advertising does not help consumers to make
  better decisions about how to reduce the margin
  of discontent
• Adverts just cloud our reasoning with unnecessary
  options and bogus emotional appeals

68
Hamiltons Argument that Advertising Makes Us
Unhappy

• The margin of discontent is a source of
  unhappiness
• Advertising perpetuates the margin of discontent
  by making us feel dissatisfied with our lives
• Therefore, advertising encourages us to be
  unhappy (via dissatisfaction with our current
  lives)
• Therefore, advertising is immoral

69
Does Advertising Make Us Dissatisfied 1?

• Advertisers and their critics both agree that
  advertising influences consumers
• But, to what extent does it do it? And,
• How does it do it?

70
How Much Does Advertising Influence Us?

• Advertising companies are in the funny position
  of
• Having to tell their clients that they can
  influence consumers very strongly. While,
• Having to tell consumer rights groups that they
  have very little influence on consumers
• Anyone who thinks that advertising doesnt affect
  them at all is wrong

71
Does Advertising Make Us Dissatisfied 2?

• Remember Winston Churchills quote
• He thought advertising was good because it made
  people strive for a higher standard of living
  but how did it do that?
• Maybe by making everyone feel dissatisfied with
  what they have at the moment by showing them
  something better

72
Does Advertising Make Us Dissatisfied 3?

• Beautiful (photo-shopped) women are in adverts
  everywhere we look

73
Does Advertising Make Us Dissatisfied 4?

• Never more so than with our prime biological
  motivators (for getting a good mate/s)
• Status for men (or more directly just getting
  women).
• Beauty (sexiness) for women.
• Real beauty for women.

74
Brand vs. Company Integrity

• Crazy that some companies/brands advertise in a
  much more moral manner than others. right?
• Wrong (In this case anyway) !
• Remember that companies are there to make money
• (Charities are there to make the world a better
  place)

75
Does Advertising Really Make Us Dissatisfied?

• Advertising either helps us solve our existing
  dissatisfactions, or
• Advertising constantly provides reasons to be
  dissatisfied and then helps us momentarily
  solve them and then tries to make us
  dissatisfied again! Or
• A woosy in between position (only some ads are
  bad)
• Could ads that make us feel satisfied work?

76
Summary Hamilton on Ads

• Advertisers would say they help everyone by
• Helping us close the margin of discontent
• Raising the standard of living
• Helping us to exercise our consumer sovereignty
  and our personal choices about how to live
• Hamilton says that advertising is immoral
  because
• It doesnt make us happier like they claim it
  does, and
• It coerces us into a constant state of
  dissatisfaction

77
Section Summary Is Advertising Immoral?

• Advertisers help everyone by
• Helping us close the margin of discontent
• Growing the economy raising our standard of
  living
• Helping us to exercise our consumer sovereignty
  and our personal choices about how to live
• Hamilton advertising is immoral because
• It coerces us into a constant state of
  dissatisfaction
• Crisp persuasive advertising is immoral
• Because it overrides our autonomy and
• It makes us desire products without us realising!

78
Find Out More

• The perils of consumerism and what to do about
  it
• http//www.storyofstuff.com/
• See what the anti-advertising community is up to
  (and trying to sell to you)
• http//www.adbusters.org/home/
• Dont worry though! Find out how advertising is
  self-regulated in New Zealand
• http//www.asa.co.nz/

79
Do More

• Let the government know what you think about how
  advertising is regulated
• Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman minister of
  broadcasting
• jonathan.coleman_at_national.org.nz
• TEL [phone] (Parliament)
• Hon Simon Power minister of commerce
• simon.power_at_national.org.nz
• TEL [phone] (Parliament)