Ethics and Truth in Advertising Dissertation

D M S Lalitha Kala Maha Samstana, Mysore
Collaborative Institution with Karnataka State Open University, Mysore
DISSERTATION
For Final Year MVA Applied Art
Topic on
Ethics and Truth in Advertising

Submission of Dissertation for the year 2011 - 2012
Dissertation by
M B Chandra Shekhar BFA

Guide
Sri Jayaraj M Chikpatil MFA, M.Phil.
Prof V B Hiregoudar
Dean DMS-LKMS, Mysore DMS Lalithakala Mahasamsthana
# 111, 4th Stage, 2nd Phase, Vijayanagar, Mysore. Phone: 0821-2404560, 2402117 Fax: 0821-2402117 Web: www.dmslkms.org

2011 2012
DECLARATION
Sri M B Chandra Shekhar is the bonafide student of Final Year MVA in Applied Art from DMS LKMS, Mysore, undertaking the Dissertation work under the guidance of Sri Jayaraj M Chikpatil on the subject Ethics and Truth in Advertising being submitted for an award of MVA PG Degree in Applied Art. And I here by declared that this Dissertation has not been used for any other purpose.
ID No : Date : Place :
Signature of the Canditate

2011 2012
CERTIFICATE
The Dissertation on Ethics and Truth in Advertising is done under my guidance by Sri M B Chandra Shekhar for award of MVA Post Graduate Degree by KSOU, Mysore. It is here by strictly informed that any portion of this Dissertation work should not be used for any other purpose.
Jayaraj M Chikpatil Guide

2011 2012
CERTIFICATE
The Dissertation on Ethics and Truth in Advertising is done under the guidance of Sri Jayaraj M Chikpatil by Sri M B Chandra Shekhar for an award of MVA PG Degree and it is here directed that any portion of this Dissertation work should not be used for any other purpose.
Prof V B Hiregoudar Dean DMS-LKMS, Mysore

2011 2012
CERTIFICATE OF VALUER
Sri M B Chandra Shekhar The Dissertation submitted by the above candidate on the title Ethics and Truth in Advertising has submitted under the guidance of Sri Jayaraj M Chikpatil the for an award of MVA Post Graduate Degree in Applied Art. I here by cerify that, any portion of this Dissertation has not been used for any other purpose. Name of Valuer Signature of Valuer
1................................................................................................ 2................................................................................................ ID No : Date : Place :
Table of content
I Introduction-----------------------------------------------------------------01 (i) Statement of Research ----------------------------------------------04 (ii) Need for the study ---------------------------------------------------05 (ii) Objectives of the study----------------------------------------------08 (iii) Definition of Advertisement ----------------------------------------11 II III V History of Advertising ----------------------------------------------------15 Importance of Advertising -----------------------------------------------32 Ethics in Advertising ------------------------------------------------------59
IV Truth in Advertising -------------------------------------------------------46 VI Legal Aspects of Advertising --------------------------------------------80 VII Conclusion ------------------------------------------------------------------93 Bibliography ---------------------------------------------------------------96
Introduction
Ethics and Truth are closely interlinked concepts and therefore it is essential to analyze them in detail separately. Ethics is a set of moral principles, norms or values. It is a branch of social science dealing with good and bad and hence moral duties and responsibilities of an individual as a social and rational animal. In other words, ethics is concerned with those values that determine the moral conduct in a given group or community. Moral principles are the rules or the standards of what is wrong or right. Therefore morality deals with right or wrong conduct. Here the word Morality is comprehensive than the term ethics because moral values include ethical values but opposite is not true. It is true that one which is right is always good and one which is wrong is always bad. Thus, fooling others is wrong and, therefore, bad. Being honest is right and, therefore, good. On the contrary, one which is good is not always right and one which is bad is always wrong. Punishing a culprit is good but it not always right if the punishment is very mild. Similarly, if a student does not spare extra pen with his friend who is badly in need, is bad but certainly not wrong. It is based on the value system of morality that we have accepted certain laws, acts, and therefore rights. Todays human rights are right because, they are morally and ethically good. Accepted moral values are seen in the form of laws which are respected, as they are for societys good. This concept of morality is not rigid. The moral value system changes over the time cycle. The best and the most unpalatable examples are that, in the past abortion was wrong and, therefore, it was immoral and unethical. Same in the case of homosexuality. Thus, it is the changing time that decides what
01
Introduction
is right and wrong good and bad for an individual and the society. Rather, the change in philosophy, attitude, belief, customs and the like that decides the value system. Truly speaking, it is not easy to define the term truth as it is the most elusive one. The more we try to get to it, the more it becomes a mirage. Right from the time immemorial, the entire world is in search of truth; yet no one knows about its nature and its whereabouts; It is the greatest philosophical controversy. Then what is truth? For an average man, truth means facts; the events that happened or taken place over a period of time. This common mans truth is same as judicial truth. Judicial truth is the content of swear taken by each entering the witness-box in the court of law. It runs as The whole truth and nothing but truth. Here truth means facts; whole truth means all the facts and nothing but truth means no mixing of lies with the facts. This judicial truth is not applicable to the world of advertising. That is why, no advertisement give the laxities1 or the demerits of the product or service. It paints a rosy picture of brighter side only. That is, the unpleasant truth the naked truth the bitter truth is concealed. The truth that prevails is not the judicial truth but commercial truth. Advertising is said to render greatest service to the community even if it does honestly presenting the commercial honesty. Even this commercial honesty seems to have disappeared. In our daily advertisements, we come across untruth in varying degrees which are honest yet dishonest, but not totally honest. However advertiser has the social and moral obligation towards the consumers because it is the consumer who pay to the last rupee of advertising expenditure. That is why
not rigidly exact or precise

02
Introduction
it has to be right so that it is good. Good advertisement does not mean both effective and honest. It means that right advertisement is good advertisement. A right advertisement is one which is just and true. It is proper and appropriate. Though, it is thought by various some people that business morality or ethics is quite different from the social morality or ethics. The former can not be different from the latter for the simple reason that business is part and parcel of social setting. Business is the heart of society because it is for, by and of the society. That is why business morality can not differ from individual though it may differ from place to place and time to time. Then, what is the relationship between advertising and these terms namely, ethics and morality? It is established fact that advertising is psychological social and business process of persuading the people to buy products or services. The test of its success is that it results in increased sales and increased share in the market and profits. In the midst of these sales and profits by the organization involved in advertising, manufacturing the product and other various other factors involved, the average man as a consumer, students and the professionals who are in advertising field has all the rights to know the truth and ethics in advertising for the product which he uses daily to satisfy his needs.
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Statement of Research
Research Proposal A Study on whether there are Ethics and Truth in Advertising
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Need for the study

As the student of Applied Art and the professional who are in advertising field, it makes us mandatory to know the extent of truth and ethics in advertising. Truth and Ethics in advertising makes one sober in dealing with the client, customers and those who are influenced by advertising without affecting his business. Image of the advertiser can be built up and increased in the minds of the public only by ethical advertising. Ethics is a matter of values, opinions and judgments. It is, therefore, difficult to differentiate between ethical and unethical advertising. As the unethical advertisements are (i) which degrade the competition brand benefits or features of the product (iii) which conceal information relating to the harmful effects of a product (iv) which are obscene or immoral. Use of more adjectives such as better, more, best, largest, tastiest, etc. may also transform an ethical advertisement to an unethical one. Thus due to these unethical advertisements the consequences are as follows: (i) Reaction by the competitor against an unethical advertisement may result in loss of a sizable market share to the advertiser who indulged in unethical advertising. (ii) Unethical advertising tends to develop monopoly which is harmful to the interests of consumers (iii) Monopoly created by unethical advertising weakens the competition which affects efficiency (iv) The above situation will lead to a tendency to discourage innovation.
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(ii) which give false or misleading information regarding the buyer
Introduction - Need for the study
Overplay of sex, exaggeration of claims, half-truths, overdramatization, sly headlines etc. sometimes make advertisements unethical and give a bad name to advertisers. Social responsibility on the advertiser is one of the major broad concepts that we can note here, only a few of the many issues and concerns relevant under this heading to the question of advertising. The ecological issue is also one of them. Unethical Advertising that fosters2 a lavish life style which wastes resources and despoils the environment offends against important ecological concerns. In his desire to have and to enjoy rather than to be and grow, man consumes the resources of the earth and his own life in an excessive and disordered way. Man thinks that he can make arbitrary use of the earth, subjecting it without restraint to his will, as though it did not have its own requisites and a prior God given purpose, which man can indeed develop but must not betray. As this suggests, something more fundamental is at issue here: authentic and integral human development. Unethical Advertising that reduces human progress to acquiring material goods and cultivating a lavish life style expresses a false, destructive vision of the human person harmful to individuals and society alike. When people fail to practice a rigorous respect for the moral, cultural and spiritual requirements, based on the dignity of the person and on the proper identity of each community, beginning with the family and religious societies, then even material abundance and the conveniences that technology makes available will prove unsatisfying and in the end contemptible. Advertisers, like people engaged in other forms of social
to promote the growth or development of; further or encourage

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Introduction - Need for the study
communication, have a serious duty to express and foster an authentic vision of human development in its material, cultural and spiritual dimensions. Communication that meets this standard is, among other things, a true expression of solidarity3. Indeed, the two things communication and solidarity are inseparable, where the solidarity is a consequence of genuine and right communication and the free circulation of ideas that further knowledge and respect for others. With these highlights the consumer, retailer, producer, company and industry collectively everyone has to know the truth and ethics in advertising since everybody are influenced by these unethical and ethical advertising which is been thrown away from different media to procure the products which he uses daily to satisfy his needs. Since everybody has the moral and social responsibility, he cannot afford to be dishonest and this demands everyone to know the truth and ethics in Advertising.
community of responsibilities and interests.

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Objectives for the study

The main objective for the study of these chapters is to understand the ethics and truth in advertising which also deals with advertising, social criticisms, responsibility of advertiser, advertising organizations, self regulation, and voluntary control in advertising and legal aspects of advertising. The three major participants in the advertising process are advertisers, agencies and the media which has to work individually and collectively to encourage truthful, ethical, and responsible advertising. The objective of advertising is to persuade the target audience in favor of a product or idea or service. In pursuit of these objectives one can not cross the line of ethics. The advertiser will lose credibility if true and fair facts are not stated in the advertisement. These days, we find many advertisers indulging in deceit and publishing misleading advertisements. The advertiser is expected to state truthfully, the merits of the product advertised. Not only is advertising self-publicizing, but unlike a personal sales appeal or a telephone solicitation4, the content of the message is a matter of public record. Consumers and competitors alike are in a better position, therefore, to expose dishonest advertising. As most advertisers thrive on repeat business for survival, truthful advertising which leads to consumer satisfaction is a good strategy; whereas false or misleading advertisements soon bring customer dissatisfaction and indignation5, and garnering6 loyal customers is difficult, if not impossible. The general government rule and regulations for advertising have been
4 5 6 entreaty, urging, a petition or request. offensive, insulting, or base, righteous anger. to gather, collect or hoard.
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Introduction - Objectives for the study
framed by various governments. These rules made under the act legally passed by the house of parliament and subjected to modification as and when required by the competent authorities. Advertising standards council of India has also issued code of ethics for advertising which are listed in four chapters and under schedule five. Various consumer organizations in advertising have also been described with the objectives and area of operation. Self-regulations working voluntarily in advertisings are also described in these chapter with their operation objectivity and power vested in for effective settlement of disputes along with their historical background operative in India and other countries of the world, however, these controls become ineffective due to lack of enforcement power even then these have inbuilt process of sense of public responsibility by having a legal review system and thereby with consumer confidence. So our objective of the study is to know these legal laws so that we dont cross over the limits of ethics. Finally in this relative world the commercial honesty that prevails over the absolute honesty. One needs to know the difference between these two, commercial honesty and absolute honesty so to avoid the confusion within and in the society and the following subject like (i) To study the Truth and Ethics in its absolute and commercial aspects in advertising (ii) To develop the sense of commercial honesty and absolute honesty to avoid conflict within oneself (iii) To uphold the social responsibilities in national advertising (iv) To understand the influence of unethical advertising on our culture and socio-economic systems of our country
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Introduction - Objectives for the study
(v) To understand the influence of untruth advertising which enrage antisocial tendencies among children and exerts a harmful influence on the younger generation (vi) To develop the sense of self regulation by advertisers and agencies, self regulation by trade associations, self regulation by business and self regulation by media compared to the infrastructure set up in other countries. (vii) Influence of Truth and Ethics on the Economic Health of our country (viii)To study the legal responsibility which upholds the judicial truth, which is also another side of the coin, morality
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Definition of Advertisement
The simplest definition of an advertisement is that it is a public announcement. In earlier times, to advertise meant merely to announce or to inform. Some advertisements today still do just that: provide information about birth, deaths, engagements, with little or no intention to persuade. The majority of classified advertisements provide useful information about jobs, accommodation, sales of second-hand vehicles and furniture, etc. Matrimonial advertisements, recruitment advertisements, and tenders, notices and similar types of public announcements also provide the public with valuable information, which would otherwise be difficult to obtain easily. The earliest advertisements in the first English newspapers published in India in the eighteenth century were little more than public announcements about the arrival of ships and merchandise from abroad. Basically, then, an advertisement is an announcement to the public of a product, service or idea through a medium to which the public has access. The medium may be print (such as newspapers posters, banners, and hoardings), electronic (radio, television, video, cable, phone) or any other. An advertisement is usually paid for by an advertiser at rates fixed or negotiated with the media. An advertisement is a form of persuasive communication with the public. The communication is usually one-sided, in one direction from the advertiser and to the public. The members of the public are free to respond to it in their own way; the response is at an individual or family level. There is little or no dialogue with the public; advertising forces itself upon the public. At the same time, especially in a democracy with a market economy, such communication is required so that intelligent choices are made.
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Introduction - Definition of Advertisement
The American Marketing Association, Chicago, defines advertising as any, paid form of non-personal presentation of ideas, goods and services by an identified sponsor. An analysis of each element of this American definition follows: Any Form: Advertising may be in any form of presentation. It may be a sign, a symbol, the illustration, an ad message in a magazine or newspaper, a commercial on the radio or on 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 imagines will fulfill the requirements of an ad, can be employed. Non-personal: This phrase excludes any form of personal selling, which is usually done on a person-to-person or on a people-to-people basis. If it is a person-to-person presentation, it is not advertising. Goods, Services, Ideas for Action: It is well known that advertisements are employed to communicate information about products and services. Most definitions neglect the use of advertising to promote ideas. The Posts and Telegraph Department advertising to promote the use of the PIN code for faster delivery of letters is an example of selling an idea for action. The Income-Tax Department advertising to persuade the income-tax payers to pay their taxes before the due date to avoid default is another case of the application of advertising to ideas involving action. Appointment ads by corporations and employment agencies, the seeking of donations by charitable institutions and political parties, and election candidates advertising to sell themselves to the public are striking examples of advertising being fruitfully employed for a persuasive
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communication of ideas for action. In most social marketing, we advertise ideas for a social cause, may be family planning, prohibition, adult education, etc. The services of ads released, by the Loss Prevention Association of India promoting the prevention of losses and the preservation of life are very relevant here. One such ad may highlight the hazards of fire-crackers during Diwali days which may take the lives of children who are somewhat careless. The headline may say: This year, take that nagging fear out of Diwali days. Teach your children these simple rules of safety. Openly paid for by Identified Sponsor: This means that advertising is openly and directly paid for against publicity which is not openly paid for. As it is paid, the sponsor has control over the form, content and scheduling of the ad. The sponsor, too, is identified. The sponsor is identified by his companys name or brand name or both. If, in an ad, the sponsor is not identified and it is not paid for its use of the media in which it has appeared, then the message is considered to be publicity. The publicity material, when prepared, may be paid for by its sponsor; but the newspaper, magazine or radio station that carries it does so free of charge. Other Definitions of Advertising John E. Kennedy who was a Canadian ex-Mountie formerly and a copywriter at Lord and Thomas Advertising Agency described advertising as salesmanship in print. (1905). Sidney Bernstein (1990) reinforces Kennedys definition by describing advertising as a substitute for the human salesman. Bob Isherwood, creative director, Saatchi & Saatchi, Australia, calls himself a salesman. According to him, a good advertisement is born out of selling an idea that has been seen somewhere. It is how well the idea is sold that makes the difference.
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N H Borden, writing in the Economic Effects of Advertising defines advertising thus: Advertising includes those activities by which visual or oral messages are addressed to the public for the purposes of informing them and influencing them either to buy merchandise or services or to act, or be inclined, favorably towards ideas, institutions or persons featured. As contrasted with publicity and other forms of propaganda, advertising messages are identified with the advertiser either by signature or by oral statement. In further contract to publicity, advertising is a commercial transaction involving payment to publishers or broad casters and others whose media are employed.
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History of Advertising Though advertising in its present form, is the product of the current century, as a business force it is not a new tool. It has the longest history taking us back to the history of mankind and human civilization. Though we fail to answer the question as to the exact age of advertising, it can be said that advertising began the moment the man discovered the art of communication. Historical documents and Archaeological researcher have confirmed the existence of advertising in the ancient times. Advertising by word of mouth is probably the earliest form of advertising because oral skills were developed well before reading and writing did. Advertising was given the commercial status the day the man entered into the process of exchange. The colorful history of advertising can be divided into six-clear cut periods consisting of centuries of growth and development. These are 1. Ancient Times 2. 5th to 8th century 3. 9th to 15th century 4. 16th to 17th century 5. 18th to 19th century 6. 20th century The way advertising works has been understood fairly recently. However, advertising as an activity has a long history. Advertising did appear in the newspapers 100 years ago, though it was unwelcome. Some did like it as it reflected the contemporary society. Others were annoyed by its everyday intrusion. Brand advertising appeared later, though advertising in general is quite old. Over a period of centuries, advertising evolved along with the
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History of Advertising
society, economy and technology which influenced the media and message development. Following is the period-wise history of advertising as a present-day powerful force. Ancient Times up to 5th Century Hammerbi ruled in Babylon 2,000 years before Christ. The artisans, bakers, shoe-makers, green-grocers and other merchants were eager to exchange their goods for money and advertising came to their timely help. Selling goods in ancient times involved personal selling abilities. Merchants needed to identify their places with a symbol that signified their trade, and so the shop signs were born. The merchants impressed the minds of consumers of the qualities of their wares which was done by the hired criers or the barkers. Other form of communication was the wall signs. On the walls of the tall buildings near important gathering places were letter sign advertisements, entertainments, helped the location of taverns and goods for sale. 5th to 8th Centuries The period from 475 AD to 800 AD is referred to as Dark Age. This is the period that starts with the downfall of Roman Empire and ends with the coronation of Charlemagne. Advertising as a business force suffered a severe setback with the fall of Roman Empire and one does not hear much of advertising is this Dark Age where the reading and writing were the prerogative of the privileged few. Commerce and trade routes were drastically diminished. It did not mean that it dried up totally. It was furthered in the form of voice. Public barkers equipped with the horns and bells were capable of attracting the attention of consumers. Advertising was done either by human voice and or-by hand executed signs and placards.
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9th and 15th Centuries The latter part of the Middle Age was a great and bold leap forward in human civilization and culture. Criers for the taverns were so numerous in Paris in the 13th century that they formed a union and were chartered by King Philip Augustus. These men developed a new gimmick of free samples. Printing originated in China and the oldest book printed was dated 868 AD. Johann Gutenberg laid the foundation of modern education by inventing a system of casting movable type in 1438, in Mainz, Germany and printed the famous Bible in 1456. This rediscovery, in the West, together with an increase in education was essential to the growth of advertising. New methods of advertising were now available like printed posters, handbills, signs, pamphlets, books and newspapers. 16th and 17th Centuries During the 16th century, newspapers were largest among the prints and these newspapers were in the form of news-letters. The first news-letter was started in 1622 in England. Latter, half of the 16th century witnessed newspapers in the form of news-books in 1622 in England and were common by the middle of 17th century. The outstanding features of 17th century were that there were special advertising periodicals. By 1675, newspapers were published which excelled news books. By the end of 17th century, newspapers were well established in England undertaking advertising on a regular basis. (v) 18th and 19th Centuries The age old principle of Caveat Emptor ruled the transactions and hence the advertising that was resorted to was untruthful. That is why, the people did not believe totally in the advertisement message given. Buyers were to be cautious and diligent in buying the goods so advertised. The 19th century
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was marked by a new trend of brand advertising. Magazines both weekly and monthly started catching the imagination of the people by popularizing and brands. This is the period that welcomed window and counter displays, exhibitions and trade fairs. The 20th Century The current century is marked with the advent of two fascinating media of communication namely, radio and television. Americans have the credit of having these first. Radio ruled the scene from 1922 to 1947 and 1948 onwards, television took over. Radio advertising has an edge over print publicity that it is capable of reaching the millions of illiterate people as it is the voice advertising. Television could beat radio advertising with the visual effects. Television has been powerful means of advertising since 1950s and has grown in importance with its color effects and is going to rule for few more decades to come. If these are the major indoor powerful media, the outdoor advertising has its own developments such as traveling displays, neon signs, sky-writing, in addition to the earlier means like posters, printed displays, painted displays and sandwich men. Thus, the advertising industry started with barkers and has culminated into a very powerful mass media of communication. It is an industry of multi-million rupees, employing millions, making the entire world of business to dance to its tunes. It has become a veritable boon to the world of business to dance to its tunes. It has become a noon of public relations and loon7 of public service. Thus, it has fortified its stay in future.
a crazy or simple-minded person.

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The Evolution of Modern Advertising Early Days As people were not educated, advertising remained attention grabbing device practiced by public criers and shopkeepers with pictorial signs. Ancient Egypt witnessed the sale of cargo from the ships being advertised by flowery descriptions through criers. The Greek and Roman merchants used the signs to advertise their products. These signs were symbols and pictures, as many could not receive. The handbills appeared in England in the late 1400s. They were calligraphic by scribes. They were analogous to the present day wanted ads. In the mid-1400s, Gutenberg introduced printing in Germany, and printing materials could be mass produced. That was the beginning of the printed shop bills distributed widely. By mid1700s, printed posters and signs appeared all over England. They were the forerunners of todays billboards. Industrial Revolution led to mass production and consumption, and that resulted in the growth of advertising. The Industrial Revolution The society was mostly agrarian before the Industrial Revolution. The households were self-sufficient. They meet their requirements through their own produce. Businesses had tiny operations restricted to the village marketplace. In the mid-1700s, machines were introduced in England. They were housed in factories. Businesses and households both were influenced. People migrated to the cities to work in the factories. They started using mass-produced factory output, rather than relying on their own produce. Businesses expanded at a rapid rate, and produced goods faster, and at low cost. Customers wanted factory goods, and there was a surge in demand. The gap between the producer and consumer widened due to migration,
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Artisans in villages were now not in touch with their customers. The gap is to be bridged. The producers were producing larger quantities. They should sell these quantities. It is in this context that businesses thought of advertising, Advertising is the means to reach a large number of people and that too quickly and easily. Industrial Revolution which began in England in the mid-1700s reached North America in 1800s. The Age of Technology As Industry Revolution started progress technology changed the nature of communication. Photography was invented, and it changed the value of advertising by putting pictures of the products in the copy. The telegraph, telephony, typewriting, phonograph, and movies changed the way in business communicated. Newspapers and magazines appeared on the scene, and they carried reading material plus ads. Then the new wave started. The advent of radio and TV significantly changed the whole business communication. Advertising came of age. Print Media Print media includes both the newspapers and magazines. These are very useful as advertising media, and the messages can be targeted to the desired audience. Newspapers The earliest ads in 1700s in London papers were of patent medicines and books. Newspapers were not published daily, but once or twice a week. As transportation services improved, daily newspapers came on the scene. They carried the messages far and wide. The first ad offering coffee was made in a newspaper in England in 1652, Chocolates ad tea were first introduced through newspaper ads in 1657 and 1658 respectively to
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England. In the US, the ads of 1700s were of textiles, book and real estate. Even slaves were advertised. By 1800s, the US newspapers surpassed the UK newspapers in number. The advertising was primarily to stimulate the basic demand. Competitive advertising came much later in the 18th century in England and America. Newspapers began to compensate agents who sold space to advertisers. This is the forerunner of a new business called advertising agency today. Historically, Volney B. Palmer is acknowledged as the first agent in the US. He started the first agency in the US, Philadelphia in 1841. In 1892, Reynell and Sons was the first ad agency started in England. When Palmer successfully sold space to an advertiser, he was paid commission by the newspaper. This became the general practice. George Rowell and John Hooper went a step ahead. They bought in 1840s space from the newspapers at a cheaper rate and then sold the same to the advertisers at a higher rate. They started the practice of paying the media for space and time, and then billing the advertisers later. S.M. Pettingill followed Palmer in the business practice, but added one more dimension to it. He started to write the ads. Writing the ad soon became a standard practice with all the agencies. In 1871, Bates set up the first advertising agency in the US which offered creative services. The agencies further expanded the scope of their functions by taking care of the artistic side of print advertising the typography and artworks. In 1875, the first modern advertising agency was set up in Philadelphia N.W. Ayer and Sons. In 1882, P&G in the US released the first national advertisement for its Ivory soap. Towards the end of the 19th century, creative advertisement came on the scene. By 1900s, agencies began to conduct research studies to target the right audiences for their client, and
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reaching them through the right media. It was later that independent media firms appeared on the scene with a research division. Magazines Magazine advertising picked up slowly as they were first reluctant to accept advertising wholeheartedly. Though advertisers were keen to tap the magazine audiences, magazines considered it below their dignity to accept such cross commercial considerations. Some ads sneaked in on their back pages, but their main source of revenue were the subscriptions. J. Walter Thompson, the pioneer ad agency persuaded magazines to accept ads. By the start of the 20th century, advertising has become common in both the US and the UK. Magazines too fell in line, and started embracing the new activity without any grudge. Though advertising was criticized on various counts, magazine ads continued unabated first in black and white, and then in color. These days there are ads in national, regional, specialized magazines and trade journals. Electronic Media Print media took advertising everywhere, but electronic media of the 20th century i.e., radio and TV made it ubiquitous. Both these media bring ads right into our homes. Radio is also a mobile medium. Radio After the World War I, there were experimental radio stations on both the sides of the Atlantic. Till 1920, there was no commercial radio station in the US. AT & T set up the first commercial radio station WEAF in New York in 1922. The first ad was that of the real estate. Radio initially was local, but soon went national. It was due to the network that consisted of a
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group of stations that went on air at one and the same time in many different areas. Early radio networks linked stations regionally and nationally. AT&T and CBS promised a wide reach for the ad message on radio. AT & T sold its network to the NBC. Newspapers mostly owned radio stations in the 30s. Advertising and agencies dominated the radio programming until early 1940s. Radio became a source of information during the war years. By early 1950s, TV appeared on the scene, and radio was threatened for the first time. FM broadcast revived the radio. Television It is by far the most potent and successful advertising medium. It is a product of 20th century. Its reach is phenomenal. The TV transmission was attempted prior to 1940. However, the first commercial station was set up in 1941 which became more popular after the World War II. In 1948, the community antenna system was set up. It preceded the present day cable system which started in the 1970s and 1980s. Though initially, it was a local medium, networks made it a national medium. NBC moved into TV, and CBS came later. ABC and DuMont joined still later. The US accepted TV commercials, though the UK banned them till 1955. Initially, advertisers dominated programming, but by the close of 1950s, networks started focusing on programming themselves. By the 1960s, the whole of US was covered by the TV. HBO started cable transmission in 1972, and satellite transmission became the order of the day. More than 99 per cent of the US households now have a TV set. TV revenues are growing phenomenally. TV commercials are purchased in terms of seconds 10-seconds, 15-seconds, 30-seconds. Infomercials are larger commercials and are a sales pitch in a programmed-like format.
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Modern Advertising In 1914, ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulation) was founded. By the end of the 1920s, advertising has grown into a major industry in the USA. After the World War I, the era of salesmanship arrived. Printing in color became the norm. Magazines used color ads lavishly. Automobiles and packaged foods were advertised on large scale. By 1920, the agencies started planning campaigns. The radio became a powerful medium, as we have observed already, in 1922. The business of advertising agencies expanded. Then came the Great Depression on the 1930s. The World War II started in the 1940s. That stunted the advertising growth. However, these years were utilized to make advertising more effective. Many sales promotional schemes were introduced. Even then the advertising volume towards the end of the War was still below the 1929 record level in the US. As we have observed, advertising started accepting research inputs. Daniel Starch, A.C. Nielsen and George Gallup founded research groups to study consumer attitudes and preferences. It was in 1948 that advertising volume crossed $1 million level in the US, which was higher than the level achieved in 1929. As we have observed, TV broadcasting was introduced in 1941. After the World War ended, TV became popular. It became an important advertising medium in the next 5-7 years. That resulted in the decline in radio advertising. From this time onward, advertising never looked buck, not only in the US and Western Europe, but in other developing countries as well. It has scaled higher and higher heights in terms of billing, its quality and its sophistication. The period between 1940s and 1950s was a post-War prosperity period. The consumers experienced an improved standard of living. The golden age of advertising had just begun. Rosser Reeves of Tad Bates introduced the concept of USP Unique Selling Proposition to differentiate a product
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from its competitive products. In the 1960s, the image era started. The emphasis shifted from the product features to product or brand image. In the 1970s, Jack Trout and A1 Ries started the positioning era. It was a time to place the product in the consumers mind space. The shortage of oil in the 1980s initiated the concept of demarketing. Marketing Warfare by Trout and Ries spelled out the four strategic positions defensive, offensive, flanking and guerilla. The 1990s witnessed the rise of comparative advertising. The new medium of Internet and the emergence of IT made digital and interactive advertising possible. Evolution of Indian Advertising Indian advertising in the 1700s, just like world advertising, was confined to signs on shop frontage and handbills. In the 1800s, classified ads were seen. Ads in the print media appeared in Hickeys Bengal Gazette. Studios were set up for typography and art work. Retailers like Spencers, Army and Navy, Whiteway and Laidlaw were the major advertisers. Patent medicines were advertised too. Advertising, as we know it today, was pioneered in India in 1905 by Dattaram & Company from Girgaon, an area in Mumbai. Thus, Indian advertising celebrated its centenary in 2005. The foundations of professional advertising business in India was laid by two English companies J. Walter Thompson and D.J. Keymers. Keymers entered the scene in 1920s. J. Walter Thompson was set up in 1929 It was in 1877 that an advertising broking agency owner William James Carlton sold his firm to James Walter Thompson, a 29-year book-keeper, and hence the name. At JWT, F.J. Fieldon was the chief, assisted by Marc Robinson, Ayaz Peerbhoy and Ms. Nuru Swaminathan. Greg Bathon, John
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Gaynor and Morois Mathias followed Fieldon. Then came the turn of the late Subhash Ghosal. D.J. Keymer closed down, giving rise to Ogilvy & Mather and Clarion. National and Sistas were set up in Mumbai by Indians. Tom and Bay came up in Pune. In the 1930s, Levers advertising department launched Dalda, and it was the first major formal campaign and brand launch in India. Venkatrao Sista set up Sistas in 1934. He made Khatau, an industrialist, its chairman and renamed the agency Adarts. Lintas: India came on the scene in 1939. In the 1940s, the front pages of many newspapers carried ads, relegating the news to the inside pages. Even Mahatmas assassination was pushed to an inside page by the Hindu in 1948 as its front page was replete with ads, In the 1940s, the four leading agencies in Mumbai were Keymers, Adarts JWT and Stronachs. They came together to form a consortium called K.A.T.S. which undertook advertising services for the Central Government. KATS is credited with being the forerunner of todays Advertising Agencies Association of India. Formerly, agencies were just buying media space. But Lintas launched Dalda in 1939 with a well-planned campaign. A film made by Duncan shows a brides father substituting pure ghee for Dalda on economic grounds, without compromising on the taste. Cartoon strips of children brought up on Dalda showed their heroic deeds in print media like Chandamama and Parag. D.J. Keymer, Kolkata closed down as they lost Dunlop account. The employees then formed Clarion. All this does not mean that in the 1940s, there was heavy advertising. The budgets were small. Till the early 1950s, the ad revenues were only Rs. 5 crore of which 70 per cent was accounted for by the press. The manufacturing sector was still nascent. The 1950s witnessed a shortage of products which had to be
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rationed. Advertising thus was thought to be a drain on resources. In the mid-50s, agencies which specialized on ads of imported goods were affected. Hugh Atkinson was a copy chief at Lintas in the 1950s. He wrote a best-seller set during the Olympics called The Games, which was made into a successful film starring Ryan ONeal. Prior to that, Atkinson wrote a novel, The Pink and The Brown. In the mid-1960s, the late Kersy Katrak took the centre stage, and nurtured talents like Arun Nanda, Mohammed Khan and the late Ravi Gupta. He had founded MCM, which folded up its operations mainly due to mismanagement. Though MCM and Iyers merged, they then died a natural death. Stronachs too closed down in the 1960s. The collapse of MCM bought on the scene many new agencies. Women were an important part of 1960s change. Nargis Wadia joined Shilpi headed by poet Nissim Ezekiel in 1955 after an Arts course at JJ. She later shifted to London and worked in many agencies. She returned to join Lintas, quit and set up a design studio which morphed into Interpub, the first agency by a woman. Bal Mundkar set up Ulka in 1961. Ayaz Peerbhoy set up MAA in 1966. The agencies stated professionalizing and consolidation in the 1970s. In 1969, Sylvester daCunha left Stronachs to run ASP (Advertising and Sales Promotion). ASP was promoted by the Birlas, the PSL (Process Syndicated Ltd.) by the Mahindras and Shilpi by the Sarabhais. ASP created the first ad for Amul butter with the ever so popular tag line Utterly Butterly Delicious. There were smaller agencies like the Dattarams, Everest and Allied Advertising. India in its post-independence period had adopted the socialist model and so advertising was considered to encourage wasteful consumer expenditure. The growth of advertising industry thus stunted. At the inauguration of advertising conference in New Delhi in 1962 Nehru
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denounced advertising as it encouraged consumption. FERA stopped patronising of agencies having foreign equity by the Government Undertakings in 1965. In 1967, radio services were commercialized. Lintas started accepting accounts other than Lever e.g., MRF. Its campaign for Liril soap for Lever was not acceptable to the Lever team since it made bathing Such a fantasy with Karen Lunel, a bikini-clad model under a waterfall. It was difficult to imagine that the conservative Indian society would accept such a bold ad. It was in the 1960s and early-i970s that the concept of brand building appeared on the scene. Amul and Made for Each Other campaigns were remarkable. New agencies set shop in the 1970s, e.g., Rediffusion, Trikaya Grey, Chaitra, R.K. Swamy and Frank Simoes. National Readership Survey I was conducted, and was a great help in systematic media planning. In 1977, DD started commercial services and this brought about a qualitative change in Indian advertising. The 1980s were denominated by the television medium. Mudra started as an in-house agency of Reliance in 1980, but later emerged as a top-ranking agency handling all kinds of accounts; Charms is the spirit of freedom this campaign of cigarettes attracted attention. Asiad Games in 1982 ushered in colour television transmission. Bombay Dyeing becomes the first TV ad. In 1983, Maggie Noodles was launched. The late Manohar Shyam Joshis Hum Log was aired for the first time in 1983. The 1990s were tech savvy. Computer technology has changed the making of artwork. It can be turned out in a matter of hours. The new medium of Internet appears. The Economic Times starts a Wednesday supplement called Brand Equity. Satellite TV started on the eve of the Gulf War in 1991. STAR starts transmission in India. An advertising school MICA at Ahmedabad is set up.
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Indian advertising gets recognition at Cannes in 1996. In the 1990s, the economy was liberalised. It brought back the foreign agencies. Indian agencies started tie ups with foreign agencies both for creative work and equity participation. In the beginning of the new millennium, DTH and IPTV appear on the scene. 3G has brought TV reception on the cell phones. Reality TV picks momentum starting with a game-show called Kaun Banega Crorepati hosted by Amitabh Bachchan initially and later by Shah Rukh Khan. Over the years, Indian advertising had many changing faces. The pre-independence ads were mostly meant for the English-speaking Indians and the British. Cars, lifts and electricity were luxuries in those days. The Maharajas and princely families were prized customers. It is only after independence and the abolition of the princely order that a new-born middle class received the attention of advertisers. In March 1980, the silver jubilee of the Advertising Club in Mumbai was celebrated. Since then the club has celebrated the golden jubilee in 2005. Mumbai incidentally is the Mecca of Indian advertising. There are professional bodies in advertising, each representing one dominant interest i.e., the advertiser, the advertising agency and the media. The ISA Indian Society of Advertisers is the sole representative body of advertisers The AAAI the Advertising Agencies Association of India represents the agencies in the industry which undertakes advertising on behalf of the advertisers. The INS the Indian Newspapers Society is the organization representing the newspapers, magazines and other publications. A new body representing the broadcasters has been formed the Indian Broadcasting Society (IBS).
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The gross billing of advertising in 2009 was Rs. 20,000 crore. This was possible because India is a growing economy with a vibrant media. Advertising in India has played a vital role in the development process by creating demand for various products and raising the living standards of millions. Indian advertising has yet to shed its elitist urban image and open up the vast rural market. Advertising has to play a great role in assisting the eradication of poverty. The future of Indian advertising is bright if the profession acknowledges its social responsibility and conducts itself honorably. Indias cultural diversity is by itself a communication challenge. Indian advertising as Subhash Ghosal said, should be rooted in our ethos8. Advertising has to relate to the consumers. Good advertising is advertising that sells. According to Sir John Hegarty, BBH, there is growing affluence in India. There are growing brands. The most important thing is that there is a greater confidence in being Indian. Indian advertising is now looking I inwards instead of at the West for inspiration. As someone has put wittily, The only thing certain about life is death and taxes. we can as well add advertising to it. There is more to marketing communication than just advertising. There are elements like public relations (PR), sales promotion (SP) and events management. The emphasis has shifted from just communication per se9 to brand building. Ad agencies have started partnering with their clients in this endeavor. Advertising in India with a billing of Rs. 20,000 crore per annum is
8 9 the fundamental character or spirit of a culture; customs, or group by, of, for, or in itself
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insignificant in comparison to its value in foreign countries. However, with impressive growth rates of the economy as whole, the advertising revenue will soon rise to the world-levels. The ads were just carbon copies of the ads abroad till date but there is rapid professionalisation seen in the output and the manpower responsible for it. Marketing research inputs are used in the design of the ad. Indian models have been recognized all over the World Art Studios have become sophisticated. Ads do experience social pressure and professional associations do exercise a code of conduct. Advertising as a subject is being taught in many management institutes, communication colleges, media institutes, journalism colleges and degree courses in commerce. There are advertising production courses at specialized institutes like Xaviers, FTII etc. Media proliferation10 has given a boost to advertising. TV has tremendous reach and impact. Vernacular advertising is picking up. Advertising copy is steeped into Indian culture and ethos. It appeals to local and regional audiences. Technology has influenced advertising greatly. There are home shopping channels. The whole world has become a global village. We are exposed to international programmes and advertising. Number of TV channels has been increasing. The programmes have become a two way communication. Artificial Intelligence (AI), computer graphics, animation software like Rhino, 3DS Max, Maya, Graphic Software like Photoshop, Illustrator, Coreldraw and other IT software for Publishing through InDesign and QuarkXpress have changed advertising qualitatively. Printing technology and color processing have made magazine and press ads stand out as high fidelity11 reproduction. Sponsored programmes add zing12 to our life.
10 11 12 a rapid and often excessive spread or increase strict observance of promises, duties or loyalty vitality, animation, or zest
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Importance of Advertising
We have seen in the earlier chapters how advertising has been playing an important role in the social life of man and more so in the economy of the industrially developing and developed nations. What exactly does advertising do apart from informing and persuading? Advertising business offers employment First major contribution of advertising is that it has now become a big business in itself. As such it affords gainful employment to thousands of people in advertising agencies, advertising departments of advertisers and advertisement departments of various newspapers and publishing houses. It also offers job opportunities to people in the allied fields like the operation of various media advertising films, commercial radio, outdoor advertising, etc. and printing, packaging, etc. Million of rupees are spent annually on advertising utilizing various types of services of many people. However the advertising business itself giving employment to many is a small part played by it compared to its social and economic implications. Modern advertising has deeper and far-reaching effects on the social and economic life of man, being closely interwoven with the production of goods; marketing and selling that is, their distribution; and their consumption which is its ultimate-utility. Thus it affects almost all manufacturers, traders as well as the public at large as consumers. Advertising Promotes Freedom of the Press Social function of advertising is that advertising helps to maintain freedom of the press to a considerable extent. In a democracy, the freedom of the press is vital because the newspapers should be able to report authentic news and be free to criticize the policies of the government or to take up
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arms against social evils without any fear or favor. The revenue which the newspapers get by publishing advertisements is usually enough to make them economically independent so as to be under nobodys, obligation and exercise their freedom of thought and opinion. Moreover, the advertisement revenue helps to bring down the cost of the newspapers considerably. Without this main source of revenue the newspapers would not be able to recover even their basic costs, and consequently the newspapers would cost much more than what they cost now. Imagine having to pay two or three rupees for a single copy of a newspaper instead of fifty or sixty paisa. Advertising thus benefits newspaper readers price-wise and many more people can afford to buy newspapers, thus promoting literacy also. Advertising is the mainstay of the economic life of a nation. It influences the process of improvement of the quality of goods and this quality once improved is maintained by the manufacturers because advertising gives a sort of a guarantee that the goods are standardized. That means advertised goods have a certain standard of quality below which they would not go. Basically advertising has five functions. Information Advertising being a form of communication, primarily informs. It communicates to the people the knowledge that certain types of goods are available, thus making them aware of the existence of certain branded products. For example, the advertising of branded vitamin tablets conveys the knowledge to the people how to recoup the energy lost by them during day-to-day working or in the case of, say, a childrens tonic how it helps in the growth of the children by supplying essential minerals and giving them an appetite. This knowledge would in any case cost the reader something in terms of payment to a doctor or chemist. Advertising is the best and yet
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the cheapest way of conveying this knowledge to the consumer because it reaches many people simultaneously costing each consumer just a fraction. Since many people are informed at one time the cost of advertising per person reached comes down considerably. This is the chief economic function of advertising, its raison detre13. Assurance When a consumer asks for a branded product he feels confident that he would get something of a definite standard, since he is not an expert on all matters he has to depend upon the reputation of the firm advertised branded product which he is buying. This is because any company which puts its product on the market is always vigilant to safeguard its reputation especially when such products are advertised. So normally it can be presumed that the advertised products are of a certain standard and superior to the unbranded ones. Even if we compare branded and unbranded products whose ingredients may be similar, those in the branded product are likely to be severely tested and purified. Thus even if a consumer pays slightly more for a branded product than he would for a competitive unbranded one, with that extra money he is buying a tacit guarantee that the product would be good. Thus, the extra cost of advertising proves to be an insurance against the product turning out to be inferior in quality. Further the unbranded product if inferior to a branded one would be improved qualitatively by its manufacturer in the face of keen competition from the branded products. Advertising leads to a competition ultimately to improve the standard of quality also among branded products, where the inferior types of branded products would try to emulate the quality maintained by the brand leader, thus benefiting the consumers at large.
13 reason or justification for being or existence
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Convenience Easier to sell an advertised branded product across the counter no sooner it is asked for. It does not need to be weighed, sorted out or counted because the branded pack is specific about the weight, quantity, shade of color, flavor, etc. The price is also known and the branded product can be identified quickly because of its familiar pack. Freedom of Choice Because of the existence of many competitive brands on the market a customer gets the freedom of a wide choice. Advertising helps in informing the potential consumer about the various brands and makes him aware of the specialties of each so that he can select according to his needs. Moreover if a customer is not happy about a particular brand he can discard it and choose another and so on till he finds a suitable product which is just right for him and which he can use always. This freedom of choice is open to the customers because of advertising and cannot be exercised in the case of unbranded goods. Buyers Guide In a free society, for example in a democracy where there is free competition, advertising serves as a buyers guide helping the consumers to know what types of products are available, their specialties, where they are available, at what prices, etc. Further it also affords a choice from a wide selection in any particular type of product. For example, people who need to wash clothes can have a choice from advertised branded products like cakes and bars of washing soaps, detergents, detergent cakes, liquid soaps, flakes, etc. Advertising guides them to know which types are suitable for their particular needs. Advertising tries to persuade but does so by informing, by being a buyers guide in the first instance. In a free society this persuasion is gentle
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unlike in a totalitarian society where a consumer does not get as wide a choice. Advertising by being a buyers guide helps to produce good quality and reputed brands, thus in turn keeping the spurious brands in the background. And even if spurious brands are advertised they cannot expect a repeat sale. Advertising is a boon to industry and commerce giving fillip to them both so that there is a steady demand which consumes the goods coming out of the production lines. In a free society where there is keen competition between different types of products, and between competitive brands in any particular type of product, there is bound to be criticism leveled against advertising itself against its very existence. Many say it is unnecessary and it unduly increases the cost of goods. The consumer pays the advertising costs as he pays for the other costs that make up his purchase price of the product. We have seen how he gets a tacit guarantee and other benefits from advertising. Many critics also say that goods would still be available cheaply and plentifully, without advertising. Today advertising is considered as an established and necessary factor in commerce and industry. We can observe that many manufacturers insist on advertising and many retailers prefer to stock only advertised goods. This in itself is a sufficient proof of the effectiveness of advertise, otherwise huge sums would not be spent on advertising. Advertising achieves definite results. Advertising creates demand and consequently sales In the case of a new product, advertising can create a demand by dynamic and persuasive advertising. In the case of existing products for which there may be actual or immediate demand, advertising can result in sales by merely informing or reminding and these sales would usually be in proportion to the extent to which it is used thus advertising produces
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additional sales. Where there is a scope for selling more, the greater the amount of advertising, the greater the growth of the demand, consequently making an equal demand on production, resulting in sales. Therefore, advertising which is scientifically planned and properly executed creates demand which results in sales. Advertising reduces selling costs Reason why almost all good retailers insist on stocking advertised goods is because it is easier to sell them. This is because advertising has more than half sold the product for the retailer even before the customer enters his shop. The customer who has made up his mind to buy because of the influence of advertising thus saves the time of the retailer in explaining about the product so that less persuasiveness or salesmanship on the part of the retailer is required. Moreover, the retailer is also a consumer and when he has been impressed by the advertising of a product, he is inclined to stock the product because he knows that his customers also would be likewise impressed. There is another advantage which a manufacturer of advertised goods gets. By creating an effective demand through advertising he may persuade the retailer to sell the product at a lower profit thus getting a higher price man than a manufacturer of an unknown and advertised product. Normally a retailer gets a better margin of profit from selling unknown products but he knows that he can increase his turnover considerably by selling advertised goods even at a lesser margin. Hence advertising can produce selling costs for a manufacturer because advertising virtually replaces his personal selling force us making substantial savings in his selling costs. Advertising can reduce selling price Advertising reduces production costs. Because of larger demands and
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production, the cost per unit comes down considerably. Further, we have seen above how advertising reduces filling costs. An enlightened manufacturer would always link in terms of passing on part of the benefits of this to the customer by now purchasing better quality raw material at the same price, and correspondingly produce a higher quality product. Or he can buy the same quality of material cheaper because he would now be buying larger quantities and reduce his production costs. Apart from this advantage he can pass on to his customers by reducing the selling price. Advertising creates employment Generating demand advertising is responsible for increasing the production. When production has to be increased it means that the manufacturer who was operating, say, one shift would now have to operate two or even three shifts, thereby increasing his labor force. This means employment for more people. These new employees would also be consumers and more the employment additional money goes into circulation. Further, more sales mean more profits for the manufacturer and if enlightened he would pass on part of the benefits of these to his workers in the form of better working conditions, bonus, housing, etc. Advertising establishes reputation and prestige Retailer is also averse14 to stocking unadvertised products for fear of their remaining on the shelf. He is aware that customers come and demand advertised products and if told to buy an unknown product instead, saying it is just as good, usually refuse to buy. It has been alleged by many critics that advertising exaggerates and misrepresents. The consumer psychology is that the consumer argues in his mind that if a manufacturer can afford
14
having a strong feeling of opposition

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continuously to advertise his product, it is because his claims are substantiated by the quality of the product. Because no amount of good advertising can sell a bad product a second time, and buying more than once shows the consumers confidence in the product and thus the reputation of a product is built. Advertised products have built-in reputation attached to them which impresses both the retailer and the consumer. The opponents of advertising who argue that advertising exaggerates and misrepresents can be proved wrong by the attitude of the man in the street who is the harshest critic. If he finds a product not as good as advertised he would not only stop buying the product but would also tell his friends about it. And a bad reputation travels faster. An advertiser who makes false claims cannot last longer in business. Exaggerated advertising may improve the sales temporarily but the sales cannot be maintained continuously. The products that satisfy customers enjoy an unassailable15 reputation. Many products have been on the market for a number of years because both the product quality and its advertising have established a reputation which, results in recurring sales. If the quality of these products begins to fall below what has come to be the accepted standard for them, it would result in the sales dropping and even heavy advertising cannot stop it. Advertising tries to raise the Standard of Living Invention of the wheel was one of the turning points in human history, yet it must have taken centuries for all mankind to learn about it and to progress because of this great innovation. Likewise the art of printing itself took many generations to develop and reach all over the world as a medium of
15 not subject to denial or dispute
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education and incidentally of advertising. If we compare these examples with the useful inventions of modern times we will find that advertising has been a powerful aid in making, these inventions known much more quickly all over and therefore readily available to the consumer. The bicycle, the motor car, the typewriter, the refrigerator, the gramophone, the radio and the transistor, even safety-razors, fountain pens, pressure cookers, and conveniences of modern life are examples of new inventions which advertising has helped to bring Within the reach of consumers within a very short time after the first experimental prototype was made. How did advertising assist this process? Firstly, it educated the people about the use and benefit of the new article. Secondly, it stimulated the demand so that mass production could be undertaken immediately and with confidence. If advertising would not create demand then the entrepreneur is taking a risk with his investment. It would be a long and slow process of developing the product, the gradual reduction in prices only as and when the demand increased by informing about the existence and availability of such a product to more and more people. Advertising has been responsible in curtailing the time factor by ensuring a ready market for such new inventions. The pioneer can now readily take the risk and invest in mass production, machinery and marketing. He knows that the enterprise is going to reap a rich reward for him. Moreover, the patent law assures him the exclusive rights for his invention at least for a limited period. What is usually more valuable is the power of advertising to attach prestige and goodwill to his name and brand and thus protect him against imitators.
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Advertising does not and cannot stop or rest when information about the new product, is more or less complete. It goes on to stimulate repeat orders and maintain the demand. It continues in the face of competition of other new products crowding in to make their claims upon the consumers purse. Thus advertising is a permanent stimulus to the total demand for all kinds of consumer goods, and as such it exerts a powerful influence upon the volume of investment, production and employment, and upon the national income. To put this in another way, competitive advertising not only induces the consumer to prefer one product to another, it also creates in his mind a desire for more new products of many different kinds, so that he is led to work harder in order to obtain desired satisfactions. Thus advertising spurs the people to action by making them want newer amenities, in turn helping to raise the standard of living. In any economic theory which regards effective demand as the key to the level of employment and prosperity, advertising must and rightfully does occupy an important place. Role of Advertising in Society Honest and truthful advertising, without any exaggerations or misrepresentations benefits all those concerned. We have seen how it helps the manufacturers, the retailers, the employees, as also the customers. Because a certain reputation is built up by advertising, the manufacturer cannot afford to lose it by selling a sub-standard product. So when the consumer buys advertised goods he buys them with confidence because he can rest assured that he is buying value-for-money. That the retailer benefits from handling advertised goods can be seen from the fact that he always displays branded and advertised products. He is
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thereby making the public aware that he stocks products for which they are looking, that he will always sell them the genuine product one that is branded and advertised. Thus he wishes to establish goodwill with his prospective customers by selling to them the established reputation of the manufacturer, which the latter has built up by constantly advertising in the past. Sometimes it so happens that advertising fails the manufacturer in obtaining the desired results. In such cases the fault is either in the product or in the advertising or in rare cases in both. If the fault is in the product then same results would have been achieved without advertising. If the fault lies with the advertising then it must be in the method of planning or its execution or approach. Because the practitioners of advertising can go wrong but not the principle that it pays to advertise or advertising helps promote sales that is wrong. It would otherwise be like saying that the science of medicine is wrong just because one single medical practitioner prescribed a wrong medicine. Advertising and Cultural Values Culture is the most fundamental determinant of a persons wants and behavior. Whereas lower creatures are largely governed by instinct, human behavior is largely learned. The child growing up in a society learns a basic set of values, perceptions, preferences, and behaviors through a process of socialization, involving the family and other key institutions. The child growing up in the United States is exposed to the following cultural values: achievement and success, activity, efficiency and practicality, progress, material comfort, individualism, freedom, external comfort, humanitarianism and youthfulness. Culture shapes our attitudes to products. These cultural values distinguish one social group from another. Each culture contains smaller groups of sub-cultures that provide more specific identification and socialization for its members. Four types of subcultures can be
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distinguished nationality groups, religious groups, racial groups, and groups by geographical areas. When we in India expect advertising to promote socially oriented objectives, such as the discontinuance of smoking, family planning, physical fitness, the elimination of drug abuse, prohibition of alcohol, we demand that advertising should respond to our cultural values. Ad copy which is not consistent with our cultural values is said to be in bad taste. It is difficult to define bad taste; it would be impossible to legislate against it. Good taste is what you and I and very few others possess. Yet there are commercial uses of mass media which are repugnant16 to the majority, concept of good taste. The advertising industry should, to some extent, attempt to regulate itself to insure against such abuse. Each of the three components of the advertising industry sponsor (client), agency, and media has established the means by which standards of taste may be controlled. Sponsors may be regulated by a company code of ethics. Of course, some cultural values become outdated and must be changed. External or core cultural values are very difficult to change by advertising. For example, getting married is a core cultural value. But getting married early is a sub-cultural value. It may be changed by forces like advertising. There are areas in advertising which are subject to interpretation and judgment. Taste is subjective, and may even vary from time to time and individual to individual. Codes, it may be argued, are token reforms at best. We, therefore, depend more on the professional elements in advertising fraternity.
16
distasteful, objectionable, or offensive

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As to the alleged moral transgressions of advertising, morality is a collective concept. There is no single well-defined moral code; there are many such codes. The moral range shifts between the extremes of outright prudishness to the free-everything philosophy. In one sense, advertising functions within the moral constraints imposed by society, and not within those that are imposed by the most prudish within that society. Sometimes we say that advertising corrodes17 the moral fabric of society by being in bad taste only because of the phenomenon of imperfect segmentation in the mass communication system. To have the best of advertising, the message must be communicated to the individual. Yet by the very nature of advertising, this is not possible. Figuratively speaking, words and appeals best suited for one man must necessarily fail to some extent to appeal to another. Our mass communication system, do not segment its target with rifle-shot accuracy. Knowing the importance of advertising also answers the criticism that advertising is not constructive. The critics say that too much advertising is wasted on changing public taste from one to another competitive product rather than promoting an entirely new buying habit. If a manufacturer honestly believes that his product is better than those of his competitors he is at perfect liberty to advertise as such; he can call his product the best on the market even if the sales of his competitors suffer. But he must not deliberately draw unfavorable comparison which is destructive advertising in its worst form. He must state clearly the advantages and special features of his product leave the consumers to make the choice. Thus, if advertising in any particular case is not constructive it is the fault of the advertiser and
17
to impair or deteriorate
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not of advertising. As regards the criticism that advertising docs not promote new buying habits there is no element of truth in this criticism as we have seen that all modern invention owe their popularity to advertising. In the ultimate analysis, we have seen how sound advertising benefits all, thereby answering the criticism leveled against advertising. Advertising, especially done by the government and mostly educational is essential in democracies; and by using mainly the audio-visual media, it spreads the messages in the rural areas. Such civic subjects as cleanliness and maintenance of hygienic conditions; social ones like family planning; economic ones like teaching about new agricultural methods and implements to the farmers, as also training them in trades or supplementary agricultural activities during off-seasons to enable them make an extra income; are being successfully handled by advertising. When advertising mainly educates and persuades in promoting social causes, it transcends all its other functions.
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Ethics and Truth in Advertising Dissertation

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D M S Lalitha Kala Maha Samstana, Mysore

Collaborative Institution with Karnataka State Open University, Mysore