Here is a FFS tip: buy water filters for you home!
The Bottled Water Lie
Extreme Advertising-Soc Philo 101Journal
(Here is a quick intro to this entry. Currently I am taking an ethics class put on by a frugal instructor who's web page you can find at the right. I thought some of the content would fit nicely in the Financial Feng Shui sort of way and it is a good way for my instructor and others to easily see what I am up to during the class.)
There is quite a bit of talk about children and ethics in the Soc. Philo this week.
Simple everyday things. Should a mother receiving parental support be entitled to purchase brand name clothes?
Should one feel guilty for saying no to babysitting?
Other topics are ethics in the tabacco industry, and obesity issues.
What people don't realize is a major portion of good and bad ethics come from advertising.
My comments are that the lower and middle classes now have access to what they see as upper class trends.
The American dream of owning a home is still out of reach for many, but for others "no money down" will instantly raise you to another class level.
Is paying for day care a symbol of class? How about manicures and vacations? Clothing certainly is as well as transportation.
If a man owns a sports car he is viewed as sucessful. Is said man still successful if rents a studio apartment but drives a brand new Mercedes? It is the perception of class on borrowed money.
A low cost Gucci handbag can be purchased for around 300 dollars. Even someone on a lesser income could find a way to pay up to ratchet up the way others perceive them. Also, are knock off bags ethical or not?
Alot of adverts you see in the US are actually illegal. Yes illegal for ethical reasons. There are some strict guidelines for commercial advertising but not anyone to really enforce it. Most folks are unaware that they have any say in how products are advertised. They are the ones who are able to enforce what we see on television.
Think Joe Camel. His campain was pulled for using a cartoon character to sell cigarettes. Does a talking gecko, or catepillar have the same impact on where people bank or buy insurance? Is the cute Taco Bell chihuahua partly responsible for an obesity epidemic?
From what I have read, in the UK there are strict laws in advertising when it comes to cigarettes. This makes it tough for advertisers who need to be wildly creative in order get their brand noticed.
For instance you are not allowed to actually show the cigarettes themselves or a lifestyle which is associated with it. As in the United States you may show a group of smiling people, usually perceived as upper-middle class, enjoying life claiming to be smokers in the first place.
Right now there groups who condem advertisers for having toy and junk food commercials on at certain times of the day. They are trying to restrict commercial from being aired when the most vunerable of viewers, children under 10, are most likely to be tuning in.
A more recent look at ethics in American television was the latest of the Survivor: Cook Islands series where four different ethnic groups were forced to compete against each other.
The popular TV series Desperate Housewives has come under fire by religious groups because it does not promote family values. Rather the show mimics what the world is really like rather than how some would like it to be or how certain groups think life should be lived out.
My Name is Earl is another show in which the character goes back to undo and make up for all his unethical decisions that he has made in the past. Trying to make past due deposits into the bank of Karma so to speak.
Reality shows like Wife Swap, Supernanny, Nanny 911, and dating reality shows, test the ethics and integrity of society. It also reflects what some see as ethical, unethical or plain not knowing any better. Some of us do know better but unless someone tells us point blank we are flat out wrong, we will continue to do if it serves our purposes or we will disengage when we realize our wrong doing.
The one show that seems to be the most innocent but the most advert laden is Extreme Makeover Home Edition. Families are nominated to have an brand new home built for them based on circumstances beyond their control or how giving they are to others in their community.
They get free furniture, free cars, free building materials, all constructed and put in place by volunteers (free labor for the shows producers) and the advertising companies get Extreme Exposure of their products, with yes, a cut in the advertising budget.
It is cheaper for Dodge to look like the do-gooder and give a family in need a truck than it is to pay for three minutes of advertising on prime time.
You do have a say what as to what you see and hear on television and radio. You may write to the broadcast agency and voice your concerns or start a group of individuals who feel the same way about the issues.
If you want to be extreme about it you can also write to the stations, and advertisers and let them know why you wont be purchasing their products any longer.
Here are some articles I found on the topics.
Junk food ads to be banned from kids' TV
Swedish Consumer Ombudsman on TV advertising to children
American Cigarettes with a European feel-- an non-truth in advertising.
Parliment Cigarettes, Wikipedia
Cuban Cigars. You may not be able to purchase pre-packaged Cuban cigars in the US. But savvy businessmen buy Cuban tobacco products and hand roll them here in the US.
Cuban Trade Embargo
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