The rather cynical quote above by American entertainer Will Rogers sums up advertising pretty well, almost. We are certainly inclined to purchase a product we don't need if it is marketed well enough. Take, for example, this article written by Kate Taylor for Business Insider in 2016: Coke and Pepsi's Bottled Water Strategy (businessinsider.com). While tap water in The United States is generally considered safe to consume and is far less expensive than bottled water, Americans spent thirty-one BILLION dollars on bottled water in 2018 (Felton, 2019). The soft drink industry has absolutely used advertising to convince the public to purchase something they do not need. However, advertising is not just convincing the public to buy a product they do not need. Advertising is an art (What Does Advertising, 1973). Advertising is a science (What Does Advertising, 1973). Advertising is a business (What Does Advertising, 1973). Most importantly, advertising is a social institution (What Does Advertising, 1973). As a social institution, advertising professionals have an ethical obligation to market responsibly. Along with embracing diversity, one of the best ways to engage in ethical advertising is by employing a Corporate Social Responsibility Perspective (Bonsu, 2020). This article, written by Mo Ghoneim in 2019 for Forbes, explains in great detail how Corporate Social Responsibility benefits both businesses and consumers. Why Corporate Social Responsibility Matters (forbes.com)
Advertising isn't always used to sell the public a product. The four examples below demonstrate how advertising has been used to contribute to society.
According to The American Journal of Public Health, the second leading cause of death in The United States is obesity, second only to smoking (Flegal, 2004) This commercial by Childrens' Health Care of Atlanta takes us backwards through the life of an obese young man from his potential death from obesity to his infancy. It encourages parents to teach their children lifelong healthy eating habits to avoid adult obesity. This powerful commercial is not selling a product. It is promoting a healthy lifestyle to curtail America's obesity epidemic.
Adult Content
This commercial by the English charitable organization Pillion Trust very impactfully exposes to the public their hypocrisy in their lack of willingness to assist the poor. While many of us might say we'd help the less fortunate, this commercial shows us that many of us would not "put our money where our mouths are".
Four months after actor Yul Brynner's death from lung cancer in 1985, The American Cancer Society aired this commercial (United Press, 2019). He did not film this commercial. Rather, it was compiled from footage from his last interview, given on Good Morning America (United Press, 2019). This commercial did not encourage the public to purchase cigarettes. On the contrary, it frighteningly revealed the consequences of smoking to the public.
In 2020, Americans gave a mind-boggling four hundred and seventy-one billion dollars to various charitable organizations (Hadero, 2021). This commercial for St. Jude's Children's Hospital is just one of many that solicit charitable donations for their respective causes. Like the three examples before this one, this commercial is not selling a product. It's using advertising to help society.
