The Pros And Cons Of Deceptive Advertising

Decent Essays
As members of modern day society, many individuals would agree with the notion that a large number of businesses take advantage of their customers in order to make a profit. However, this of course, is not true in all cases; but has overtime become conventional. Several years ago a total of 2,852 U.S. employees took part in the 2009 National Business Ethics Survey, revealing a general consensus that companies with a higher ethical culture typically had more overall success than those lacking (Schwartz 7, pg. 41). Now with that being said, many businesses have continuously incorporated specific marketing techniques and strategies that are not only immoral, but have overtime negatively affected businesses alike.
The first of these strategies can be identified as: manipulative marketing. This particular tactic is complex, especially when considering the different aspects behind it. According to Doctor Shlomo Sher, an advertisement itself cannot be manipulative; but its use as a marketing tactic can be (Sher 2, pg. 98). Sher then goes on to explain that marketing teams prey on their consumer’s beliefs, desires, and finally preferences, to formulate a proper advertisement. In other words, this tactic is basically an attempt to take advantage of
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This term can be defined as, “Deceptive advertising, also known as false advertising, refers to a manufacturer 's use of confusing, misleading, or blatantly untrue statements when promoting a product” (Consumer 4). With that being said, a majority of the time companies will portray their products a certain way in order to gain the attention of potential buyers. This particular tactic is most commonly seen from fast food corporations, as they show their greasy food as something that is desirable and high-class. While this seems harmless, there are however instances where businesses have attempted to falsely advertise products based solely on a

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