Marketing Blog Post #10 - Think before you leap!

 Advertisements take a huge role in marketing because they try to capture an audience and inform them of what goods the company offer. There are some really exceptional ads for example ones that make your heart race in anticipation such as the ones during the olympics or the ones that were broadcasted for FIFA. Yet some ads are excruciatingly disturbing that make people say "That's doesn't feel very ethical." Talking about ethics today in class, made me think about the many of the ads we see today and one question that really strikes me is: "what on earth are these companies thinking?" Why would anyone spend millions of dollars on something that doesn't look or feel right? Something that would spark controversy and critique? Here are two ads that I have seen that really make the viewer question "Why o why...."

Not only do magazine ads make one question about it being ethical or not, but video ads for example election campaigns also spark the question "Is this right?"

The federal elections are just around the corner and television ads are going viral to inform Canadians about each of the party's campaign platform. However, what really struck me when I saw these ads were the different approaches the party used.  I am not suggesting anything about the elections and who should win and who shouldn't because this is not my part to do so.  But just focusing and looking at the ads, I find that the Liberal ones tend to be a little hypocritical. Majority of the ads seem to be ads that attack the opposition - the Conservatives. Is this ethical? Shouldn't the ads be more of what the Liberals CAN do instead of what the opposition ISN'T doing? Shouldn't they be informing Canadians about their political platform and why it is a good choice to vote for them instead of bashing the opposition? Is this an ethical way to promote their campaign? Many political parties have used this tactic such as the Conservatives a few years back. And whether these ads are ethical I guess is up to the audience to decide, but I for one don't think it's a good approach in informing people of what the political party has to offer.  The Liberal Campaign ad can be found with this hyperlink.