Ads that are controversial always keep people’s attention. They get noticed, talked about, and viewed by many more people than who would have seen it normally. The first ad that I chose that shows questionable ethics is an ad that was run by Sisley a few years ago. The ad which is catchy and interesting is also very controversial. The ad depicts two girls who are fashion junkies ‘snorting’ a white dress from the company. This would be a great way to sell their clothing to a young, fashion conscious customer. They will look at the ad and understand the irony of the girl junkies. However this is exactly where the ethics of the ad come into questioning. Most young viewers of the ad will understand that the dress is a replacement for cocaine, down to its white color and thin straps perfectly depicting a line. While the ad is clever and caught viewers’ attention (and while I believe that most viewers are smart enough to not go out and use cocaine after viewing the ad) should advertisers really promote, even in a disguised way, the use of illegal substances? (AdRants)
Everyone knows the adage ‘sex sells,’ and that is true. After all, stereotypes and phrases such as this only come about because in general they seem to be true. No matter where we look we are constantly visually accosted with images of girls and men trying to sell us a product through a sexual means. There is something to this; it’s probably one of the easiest ways to catch a person’s attention in this day and age where we are constantly bombarded. Walking down the street I would stop if I see an image of a gorgeous man trying to sell me the new Tom Ford cologne. But at which point should advertisers stop and think about when it is too much. Many fashion companies have been under the bullet about their sexualization of models in their ads, Dolce and Gabbana, Tom Ford, and American Apparel to name a few. At which point are you no longer selling a product? In this ad for American Apparel the model is wearing a white t-shirt and boy’s style underwear. Both of which are available at American Apparel, but I don’t know which one she is trying to sell me. One only sees the highly sexualized image of a female and the American Apparel logo hidden in the bottom. At what point are advertisers to blame for the mass sexualization of their ads? The problem is that there are different levels of sexualiztion to everyone and therefore the question almost becomes moot. (AmericanApparelAds)
Another ethics that advertisers face is that of body image. It is no secret that many Americans are overweight and obese. While this is mostly due to the type of lifestyle they lead, one would be hard pressed to not hear about some type of weight controversy during the day. This happened last fall when Ralph Lauren released images for his new ad campaign. The ad which was run in Japan (where people are for the most part healthier than in America) depicts a model who is naturally thin photoshopped to appear even thinner. She is almost unnaturally thin to the point that a person might have health concerns for being too underweight. While mostly concerned in the field of fashion, body image is constantly being questioned. Should only thin models be used, should they have a minimum weight? This falls to advertisers as well who chose to use these thin models and Photoshop them to meet our society’s beauty ideals. The problem here is that our society has created these ideals for both men and women and then complains when people who meet them are shoved in their faces. Should advertisers be held responsible? (PZRservices)
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