75 word response to student to further the Discussion

OriginalQuestion:Topic: Advertising Dreams Does advertising create desires that people did notpreviously have before seeing what a company is offering, or does it tap intopreexisting desires? If companies build advertising upon dreams or even createthose dreams, is it unethical if it causes consumer stakeholders to pursuethose dreams to their own detriment (i.e., overspending, credit card debt,hoarding, etc.)? Is advertising ethical as long as all of a company’sadvertising statements are true, or is there something more to determining theethics of advertising? StudentResponse:Hello professor and class,Advertising definitely creates a desire that consumersdid not previously have for that product that a company is trying tosell.  Advertisers will go to many lengths to entice the consumer to buytheir product.  Anywhere from a catchy tune that gets drilled into yourhead, a famous actor or sports figure, or new and improved over the “otherguys”, an advertiser will try to lure you into buying their product.It is not unethical if the company does not misleadthe consumers.  The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will investigatecompanies if there are consumer complaints.  A consent decree can beplaced against a company’s ad that will prevent their ad from appearing if theFTC finds it misleading or unsubstantiated.  One of the greatestadvertisers in the world is McDonald’s as their catchy tunes (Two all beefpatties…) and the infamous Happy Meal have made it a mainstay in the fast foodindustry.  Their advertising created a need for kids to go to theirrestaurants and enjoy a Happy Meal which then had a much needed toy prize thatchild must have.Advertising is not always ethical if all of a company’sstatements are true. This would be the case if the company did not discloseinformation that a consumer would consider important.  To me this is veryimportant when you have a company touting a drug that cures something, it istrue that their drug cures the ailment, but the side effects of the drug couldmake the patient far worse off then if they took nothing at all.  On theother side of the coin you have advertising of that little blue pill – you knowwhat I’m talking about – that helps with ED and wouldn’t you know one of theside effects is that if it lasts longer than 4 hours to go see a doctor. Wow is all I can say to that.Reference:Halbert, T., Ingulli, E. 2014. Law and Ethics inthe Business Environment, 8th Edition. [VitalSource Bookshelf Online].