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The world that we live in today is dominated by
advertising. Adverts are on television, on the World Wide Web, in the street
and even on our mobile phones. However, many of the strategies used to sell a
product or service can be considered immoral or unacceptable.
To begin with, the fact that we cannot
escape from advertising is a significant cause for complaint. Constant images
and signs wherever we look can be very intrusive and irritating at times. Take
for example advertising on the mobile phone. With the latest technology
mobile companies are now able to send advertising messages via SMS to
consumer’s phones whenever they choose. Although we expect adverts in numerous
situations, it now seems that there are very few places we can actually avoid
them.
A further aspect of advertising that I
would consider unethical is the way that it encourages people to buy products
they may not need or cannot afford. Children and young people in particular are
influenced by adverts showing the latest toys, clothing or music and this can
put enormous pressure on the parents to buy these products.
In addition, the advertising of tobacco
products and alcohol has long been a controversial issue, but cigarette adverts
have only recently been banned in many countries. It is quite possible that
alcohol adverts encourage excessive consumption and underage drinking, yet
restrictions have not been placed on this type of advertising in the same way
as smoking.
It is certainly true to say that
advertising is an everyday feature of our lives. Therefore, people are
constantly being encouraged to buy products or services that might be too
expensive, unnecessary or even unhealthy. In conclusion, many aspects of
advertising do appear to be morally wrong and are not acceptable in today's
society.
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