From mission to profession to industry, the world of advertising has come a long way.

Some people describe it as a parasitical, untrue, misleading and obscene Advertising Industry have been facing a lot of criticism in the recent times as the advertising practices have not always been ethical. Advertisements should be socially, culturally and morally ethical

Ethics means Good Conduct or Conduct which is right in view of the society and the time period. By common consent, various modes of behaviour and conduct are viewed as good or bad. In other word, we can say that Ethics are moral principles and values that govern the actions and decisions of an individual group. Ethics is a choice between good and bad, between right and wrong. It is governed by a set of principles of morality at a given time and at a given place and in a given society

Advertising contributes to have both negative & positive influence on society. It is criticized for encouraging materialism, manipulating consumer to buy things they do not need; stereotyping, fraudulent & so on..

In short ethics are rules of conduct or principles of morality that point us towards the right or best way to act in a situation. Ethics vary from person to person, society-to-society point of view.. You may see nothing wrong with the advertisements for cigarettes or beer or sexually suggestive ads, but other students, many oppose these actions on moral and ethical grounds.

advertisement exaggerates about the product qualities. Now a days puffery i.e. metaphor of idea forms to be main element in advertising. Puffery, though legal, but is not harmful to an extent. But false claim and dishonesty are unethical practices and regular deception, leads to losing costumers trust & confidence. Puffery is considered to be an opinion and not a factual information. E.g. In the advertisement of Force 10 shoes the copy is I am walking on air. This metaphor that tells the lightness of the shoes, is unbelievable that one can walk an air.

Deceptiveness is defined as not only as false and misleading statements but also as false impressions conveyed, whether intentional or not. The problems of untruthful or fraudulent advertising exists more at the local level and in specific areas such as mail order, telemarketing and other forms of direct marketing. a) False promises b) Incomplete Description c) Misleading Comparisons e) Visual Distortions g) False Comparisons h) Partial Disclosures j) Laboratory Application.

Major complaints against advertisements is offensive, tasteless, irritating, boring, obnoxious & so on. Taste is subjective i.e. what is good taste to one may be bad for some one else. Tastes changes with time.

The type of appeal or the manner of presentation often irritates consumer. E.g. Fear Appeal in Deodorants, Mouthwash & Anti-dandruff shampoo ads are criticized to create anxiety & fear to be rejected in the society; Sexual Appeal - Female as sex objects in masculine products like shaving creams, undergarments etc. the advertisements for products like contraceptives are not preferred.

Advertising creates derives and fantasies for the consumers. Many critics claim that the advertising encourages materialism. Few critics attribute to advertising that a) Seeks to create needs rather than merely showing how a product or service fulfils them; b) Surrounds consumers with the images of good life and convinces how the materialistic possessions leads to happiness in life. c) Portrays these possessions as symbol of status, success, social acceptance, popularity, sex appeal and so on.

Comparative advertising is another unethical practice of advertising besides fraudulent and deceptary advertising. E.g.: The advertisements of Pepsi of Coca Cola: Both the brands try to compare their brands & the series try to cut the features shown in their advertisements. Similarly the ads of captain Cook Salt & Tata Salt.

Similarly making the packaging or the names sounding similar

claiming & playing with numbers & facts while comparing with competitors in form of testimonials sometimes can lead the advertisers to the legal authorities e.g. The Pepsondent people were asked to ban their ad of being 102% better than their competitor by MRTP commission on the complaint of Colgate Plagiarism or imitation in advertising copy is also flourishing in advertising world today. One copy says, Believe in the best & another better than the best. One claims for the flattest screen, other flatter than the flattest

Creating & perpetuating stereotypes through portrayal of women, ethnic minorities & other groups. It involves presenting a group of people in a pattern or manner that lacks individuality. In our society, we have many stereotypes like South Indians are intellectuals; Punjabis are boisterous & so on. Mother-in-law & daughter in- law always fight, father out of house management etc. depict women as preoccupied with beauty, household duties , motherhood or show them as decorative objects or sexually provocative figures.

Moreover, housewives are portrayed, as they are just concerned about the cleanliness of their homes, health of family members & so on. Young girls occupied with beauty & boys. Very few ads recognize the diverse role of women in society. Males are generally shown knowledgeable, active and aggressive than females. Feminist groups such as the National Organization for Women (NOW) and Sexual Assault Prevention & Awareness Center argue against such advertisements

Sex in Advertising is the most controversial aspect, which is much of social issue than an ethical issue

Decently portraying women in an ad for condom is acceptable as it is required. But women provocating sex in advertisements of suitcases, Shaving foams or creams, tyres, pens, shoes etc. does not make any sense at

In the advertisement of Gel Pen the exposure of women & copy saying sab kuchh dikhta hai is a matter of critique. Similarly ad of Tuff Shoes portraying the male & female models wearing tuff shoes and a python draped around their nude bodies is not sensible. This ad was banned. Many of the ads present even bare male models, which is not relevant even. Critics concerns about the sexual appeals in advertising that demean women or men by depicting them as sex objects

It is believed that the advertisements have destroyed the dignity of the language. The research on advertising shows that consumers better responds to the simple and down to earth language than to the more dignified & formal copy. A successful copy is that which is descriptive, colorful and pictures are as warm, human & personal.

In India According to Verghese Committee Report (1978), the following are the general rules of conduct in advertising 1- Advertising should be so designed as to confirm to the laws of the country and should not offend against any morality decency and religious susceptibilities of the people

2- No advertisement should be permitted

(i) Which divides any race, caste, color, creed, nationality except wherein such usage would be for specific purpose of effective dramatization? (ii) Which is against any of objectives, principles of provisions of the constitution of India; (iii) Which will tend to incite people to crime or to promote disorder, violence or breach of law, (iv) which presents criminality as desirable, or furnish details of crime or imitation thereof; (v) which would adversely affect friendly relations with foreign states

The following are excerpts from code of ethics for advertising issued by the Advertising Council of India. 1- Advertisement should be so designed as to confirm not only to the laws but also to the morals, aesthetic and religious sentiments of the country.

2- No advertisement likely to bring advertising into contempt or disrepute should be permitted.

5- No advertisement should be permitted to contain any claim so exaggerator as to lead inevitably to disappoint in the mind of public. Special care is called for

in the advertisements related with illness, investment of money, invitation to lotteries, publication of employment notices requiring fees for application forms, prospects, etc.
6- Methods of advertising designed to create confusion in the mind of consumers as between goods of one make and another. 7- Advertising should endeavor to gain the goodwill of public on the basis of merits of good, or services advertised.

8- Indeed, vulgar, suggestive, repulsive or offensive theme or treatment should be avoided in all advertisements.
9- No advertisement should offer to refund money paid. 10- the use of national emblem is prohibited by law in advertisements, trade marks, etc.

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), established in 1985, is committed to the cause of Self-Regulation in Advertising, ensuring the protection of the interests of consumers. The ASCI was formed with the support of all four sectors connected with Advertising, viz. Advertisers, Ad Agencies, Media (including Broadcasters and the Press) and others like PR Agencies, Market Research Companies etc. Its main objective is to promote responsible advertising thus enhancing the public's confidence in Advertising.

ASCI is represented in all committees working on advertising content in every Ministry of the Government of India. ASCIs Code for SelfRegulation in Advertising is now part of ad code under Cable TV Acts Rules. Violation of ASCIs Code is now violation of Govt. rules. ASCIs membership of The European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA) ensures that it gets valuable advice, learning and even influence at the international level.

The Consumer Complaints Council is ASCI's heart and soul. It is the dedicated work put in by this group of highly respected people that has given tremendous impetus to the work of ASCI and the movement of self-regulation in the advertising. This group comprise of 21 drawn from various disciplines. 12 are eminent people not associated with advertising ( such as lawyer, doctor, journalist, teachers, technical experts consumer activities etc.) and 9 are from industry (advertiser, media, ad agencies and allied professionals. ASCI thus aims to achieve its own overarching goal: to maintain and enhance the public's confidence in advertising.

Declaration of Fundamental Principles This Code for Self-Regulation has been drawn up by people in professions and industries in or connected with advertising, in consultation with representatives of people affected by advertising and has been accepted by individuals, corporate bodies and associations engaged in or otherwise concerned with the practice of advertising with the following as basic guidelines with a view to achieve the acceptance of fair advertising practices in the best interests of the ultimate consumer: To ensure the truthfulness and honesty of representations and claims made by advertisements and to safeguard against misleading advertisements. To ensure that advertisements are not offensive to generally accepted standards of public decency. Advertisements should contain nothing indecent, vulgar or repulsive which is likely, in the light of generally prevailing standards of decency and propriety, to cause grave or widespread offence

To safeguard against the indiscriminate use of Advertising in situations or of the promotion of products which are regarded as hazardous or harmful to society or to individuals, particularly minors, to a degree or of a type which is unacceptable to society at large. To ensure that advertisements observe fairness in competition so that the consumers need to be informed on choices in the market-place and the canons of generally accepted competitive behaviour in business are both served. Both the general public and an advertisers competitors have an equal right to expect the content of advertisements to be presented fairly, intelligibly and responsibly. The Code applies to advertisers, advertising agencies and media

Responsibility for the Observance of this Code

The responsibility for the observance of this Code for Self-Regulation in Advertising lies with all who commission, create, place or publish any advertisement or assist in the creation or publishing of any advertisement. All advertisers, advertising agencies and media are expected not to commission, create, place or publish any advertisement which is in contravention of this Code.

This is a self-imposed discipline required under this Code for Self-Regulation in Advertising from all involved in the commissioning, creation, placement or publishing of advertisements. This Code applies to advertisements read, heard or viewed in India even if they originate or are published abroad so long as they are directed to consumers in India or are exposed to significant number of consumers in India.

CONSUMERS ASCI Consumers see an Advertisement which they consider misleading or offensive, they should write to The Advertising Standards Council of India. Complaints received from the general public should be in the prescribed format providing relevant particulars including clipping or copy of print Ad/promotion material / timing, date and channels of TVC broadcast.

However, in order to facilitate the General Public making complaints, the secretariat will not insist on accepting complaints in the prescribed format or requiring a copy of the clipping as long as details of product / service, publication / channel / location, date / time and nature of complaint is clearly stated. The Secretariat will accept telephonic complaints also as is done by SROs outside of India. It will confirm and verify the complaints by writing to the party concerned when complaint is made orally.

A single complaint alleging that an advertisement is misleading or offensive is usually enough to require the Advertiser to correct the Advertisement. On receipt of a complaint (should be complete with relevant particulars including clipping or copy of print Ad/promotion material provided by complainant), the Secretariat will acknowledge the complaint and request the advertiser / agency to provide comments / response in respect of the complaint. Both the Advertiser and the complainant are advised of the decision of the Consumer Complaints Council.