Ethics in marketing: why is respecting it the best way?

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Why should we discuss ethics in marketing? It is difficult to think of any business that can thrive without good marketing . After all, it involves many things, such as making the product known, showing what it offers (and the advantages for those looking for that particular item) and even the relationship with the public. However, there is still controversy today regarding the ethical stance that is used to achieve its goals.

This image comes mainly from a period in which, even with the existence of CONAR (National Council for Advertising Self-Regulation), created in the 70s, we still had highly appealing advertisements being broadcast.

However, we need to consider that this ethical limit itself was different, because society was different, so some things were within the acceptable zone. Perhaps to make this a little easier to understand, we can talk about a very emblematic case in Brazil: that of advertisements for children.

Ethics in Marketing: How It Affected Children's Advertising
Who doesn't remember ads from the 90s like the "I have them, you don't" for Mickey and Minnie Mouse scissors ? Children's campaigns were full of the most varied absurdities, but especially dedicated to instilling in children the feeling of needing to own that object in question. It was not only normal, but also recurrent in advertising pieces.

This even included unhealthy foods, which led cameroon phone number list civil entities to start campaigns for more regulation of this type of advertising. However, even CONAR, despite its code of ethics , did not take measures that were considered sufficient, which led to the courts entering the scene.

The final result came in 2014, when Conanda (National Council for the Rights of Children and Adolescents) finally approved a law that prohibited any advertising targeting children in any media . The explanation is that it violates both the Statute of Children and Adolescents and the Consumer Protection Code.

As a result, what we saw was the disappearance of all types of advertising aimed at children, which even resulted in the almost non-existence of children's programs on open TV, as they were supported by these advertisements.

It was one of the cases in which advertising and CONAR itself, as a self-regulatory body, suffered their greatest defeat, by failing to create an adequate limit within the ethics of marketing to children.

What is and is not ethical in marketing?
This is a very complex question, especially because it deals with the most diverse points of view, and that is where the importance of CONAR comes in. Previously created as a way to avoid the regulation of advertising by the dictatorship, with the advertising world itself regulating itself, today it serves especially to establish limits on what should or should not be broadcast in the media.

It has an extensive code of rules that must be followed by all agencies when creating an advertisement or advertising campaign. It is worth highlighting some of the main points, as a way of illustrating what is currently considered unethical in marketing:

Any advertisement that does not clearly present the product. Among other things, we can include a clear description, true information, well-defined prices (without the “free” tag on something that cannot be proven to be free), research, only if it has a basis, etc.
Do not bring offensive content of any kind;
Do not encourage any type of pollution or damage to the environment;
Make it clear that this is an advertising piece and that it does not contain subliminal messages;
Do not abuse the consumer's good faith by exploiting their lack of experience or knowledge about the service or product;
Avoid any type of content that incites violence.
These are just a few examples to show that the rules applied by CONAR range from the most obvious to the most elaborate. Below we will talk about one that has been popular in advertising campaigns for a long time: brand comparison.

Ethics in marketing and the end of comparative advertising
For a while, we had several advertisements that encouraged brands to compete, or in this case, to say “my brand is better than yours”. These were campaigns that often featured two or more competitors, with the simple confirmation that the author of the advertising piece in question was better.

In addition to being a huge disservice, as it could even mislead consumers, it has also become frowned upon by people, who often prefer collaborations between major brands. Seeing this negative repercussion, many have started to act in a friendly manner towards their competitors, as a way of winning over the public with a more friendly and less aggressive face.

Because of this, today we have rules that set limits for when someone makes this type of comparison. Some of these rules include not depreciating, not inciting confusion, not comparing products from the same period, among others.