Topic > Code of Ethics in Marketing and Advertising

The case study highlights that Nike was placing billboards in Chicago's South Side neighborhoods to announce its latest sneakers endorsed by other African American superstars. The sneakers cost anywhere from $50 to $125, which is very expensive in general, but especially so for families in the neighborhoods where the ads were posted. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Children living in this area were affected by both gang violence and criminal activity; if they somehow managed to afford a pair of sneakers, they were harmed by other children who attacked and killed them to steal their sneakers. Spike Lee, Michael Jordan and Bo Jackson all said that wearing these sneakers would allow them to jump higher, run faster and encourage people of all backgrounds to get along. Nike carefully chose who would represent them in these advertisements because they wanted them to be good role models and recognizable to consumers. Although concise, the code of ethics is useful for evaluating the ethical considerations of the study. The code states that “Advertising must tell the truth and reveal significant facts, the omission of which could mislead the public”. However, Gordon et al. questions the code specifically because the industry makes null and unproven claims and uses terms like “Award Winning” when there is no direct competition, which is unethical. They call it puffery: the technique used by advertisers to try to create meaningful distinctions in the minds of audience members between essentially identical products. Celebrities claim that they can jump higher and run faster in Nike brand sneakers may be true, but how do they even compare them to other brands of sports sneakers, tennis shoes or being barefoot? This may have a bearing on one's ability to perform better athletically, but they haven't stated the comparison in such a technical way, which is unethical to state. The code of ethics also says: “Advertising containing testimonials must be limited to those from competent witnesses who are reflecting a real and honest opinion or experience.” I highly doubt that a pair of sneakers will make you jump higher, run faster and bring people together not just because sneakers don't fit the laws of physics, but because kids in sneakers have been killed and robbed Regardless of the physics that define how high someone can jump or run,. people proved that these sneakers did not bring people together in the slightest. Ergo, the claims made towards the sneakers were not true and therefore were not ethical is not helpful in evaluating the ethical considerations of the study because it clearly states that the American Advertising Federation has not updated their code of ethics since 1984, which makes it almost obsolete. With the new phases and phases of the media (and society), they are totally ignoring the harms of the present day by not taking care of updating the. code. Many things have changed since 1984 and it is almost immoral not to have kept the code relevant to the pending times… let's think about that for a second. Communitarianism emphasizes the influence of society on individuals and argues that values ​​are rooted in common history and tradition. Nike was trying to make their sneakers the standard of the company by not only advertising them, but by having celebrity models as spokespersons. When peers.