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Beer Institute Seeks to Ensure Ethical Alcohol Advertising
Posted by: | CommentsThe Better Business Bureau, the organization that presides over the Beer Institute, recently ruled that the Coors Light Bus Boy ad unintentionally violated the Beer Institute’s Advertising and Marketing Code. According to the code, “Beer advertising and marketing materials should not portray or imply illegal activity of any kind.” In the ad, there is a male that is constantly picking up Coors Light beers in a bar setting. After a while, a waitress notes that the “new bus boy” is doing a great job of cleaning off beers on the tables, to which the boss responds “I didn’t hire a bus boy”. While the underlying or intended meaning of the ad is that Coors Light is so good that people will go to crazy resorts to get it, an additional meaning that Coors Light is worth stealing is the reason for the criticism towards the ad.
While I wouldn’t have really taken such a literal meaning from the ad, I believe the rationale of the Beer Institute is understandable. While Coors itself doesn’t really believe that they have done wrong, they have agreed to stop running the ad as a result of the Better Business Bureau’s ruling. Alcohol advertising is a part of the overall institute of advertising that gets a lot of criticism for unethical advertising. I commend the Beer Institute for creating a non-legal but authoritative ethical standard in an attempt to change this reputation. If we as advertisers continue to create standards for ourselves and regulate ourselves, I believe we will be able to eventually gain credibility and positively impact people’s attitudes towards advertising while performing our business related roles.
I also believe that as advertisers we must look at our ads from several perspectives before we publish the work. While Coors intended to sell their product using a humorous story, there are ways to use humor without portraying or romanticizing illegal activities. If we could really scrutinize our work from an ethical point of view, we could avoid wasting time and money airing ads that won’t be approved our self-regulating structures. By taking time at the forefront to view the ethical impact of our advertising messages, I believe we can avoid a lot of time wasted and financial loss in the future.
Car Companies Addressing Socially Responsible Driving-Related Issues
Posted by: | CommentsDriving is a privilege and a responsibility. While driving is convenient in getting us from point A to B, society also entrusts the driver with the faith that they won’t harm themselves or others with their activity. I found it interesting that two different car companies, Ford and Kia, ran print ad campaigns this fall to address issues concerning responsible driving. Kia partnered with MADD in an campaign to discourage drinking and driving while Ford’s campaign focuses on the epidemic of social networking and phone use while driving.
In the Kia ad, created by Innocean Worldwide in Canada, attention is gained by the surprise element. We all know the typical, don’t drink and drive message, but it is presented in a novel and unexpected way by displaying them as tattoos on the person’s body. Furthermore, they use tattoos to drive home the fact that the consequences of drinking and driving are permanent. I also found it interesting that they used both genders in the ad campaign as well as different ages. Since drunk driving is something that happens with both genders and across different ages, I believe it was important to represent that. Also, I believe this ad gains attention by being easy to process. Once you read the inscription on the tattoos, it is easy to “get” the message that the ad is trying to tell us. Using the dark background, the objects you are supposed to focus on are clear and the understanding you are supposed to gain from it are concrete. While this message is one you typically expect from MADD, it is not a message you would expect from Kia. I believe by cosigning to this ad, they hope to transfer positive feelings about MADD and their cause towards Kia through brand partnership. For those who believe in purchasing from “socially responsible” businesses, this type of advertising activity might sway them to further consider Kia in the consumer decision process.
The Ford campaign, created by Agency MJ in Brazil, is not as serious but still addresses a serious topic. By using the images one associates with social networking, they show how phone usage can distract one from being entirely cognizant of the environment they are driving in. They chose to make the ad stimulating by using novelty to illustrate their message. They also heightened the possibility of safety risk to drive their point across to the audience. I think this kind of ad message would cause positive feelings with parents and older consumers that are highly concerned with the driving habits of the younger, social networking drivers. In these ads, it seems like Ford is simply saying “we care what you care about” and again, might appeal to consumers that are passionate about this cause or social responsible businesses.
In both ad campaigns, it is reassuring to see car companies recognizing problems involved with the consumption of their product. By highlighting these issues, Ford and Kia are positioning themselves as “socially responsible” companies that deserve your consideration in your next car. After all, if they care about society as a whole, of course they would care for their consumers right? Ads like these, even if they are still driven by economic motives, will continue to increase public regard for advertising as an institution.
