Concealment of Facts
Definition of Concealment (Act of hiding
somethings)
Definition: Concealment
is the act of hiding or not putting forward any relevant fact in front of the consumer
that need to be revealed. An applicant commits this fraudulent act
intentionally or unintentionally that may lead to loss to the consumer. E.g.,
Natural Ingredients present in the products.
CONCEALMENT OF FACTS
Most of the
advertisers conceal important information that is unflattering, i.e., they present
only brighter side of the story.
They ignore to
mention those facts which would make their products less desirable.
Concealment of
facts results a severe ethical concern because when consumers are deprived of
comprehensive knowledge about the product, their choices will be distorted.
Advertisements directed at Children
Marketing to Children
Many parents view all
marketing toward children as suspect because it can alter a child's opinions,
viewpoints and self-image. Advertisers should tread carefully when establishing
branding strategies and avoid tactics that will be annoying to parents.
Offensive images, branding a product as something children can do to annoy
their parents or siblings and branding a product as something for problem
children can all prove problematic. Misleading branding strategies are also a
problem and are often investigated more intensively when they involve children.
The FTC (Federal Trade Commission Act) can heavily
penalize false marketing to children. Avoid branding strategies that encourage
children to eat unhealthy foods, such as branding a snack as healthy or as a
replacement for a wholesome meal. Children under the age of 8, as they might be
unable to critically evaluate marketing claims.
Although the FTC
places special emphasis on truth-in-advertising laws when applied to children,
the law allows for a great deal of unethical behavior here. Former FTC
commissioner states that children are not likely to understand exaggerated
statements or images.
This interpretation of the law completely ignores the
unethical ramifications of purely legal advertising, such as building brand
loyalty in children before they even understand what a brand is, encouraging
children to develop negative self-images or getting children hooked on products
that can impede social development. The best way to act ethically in this area
is to advertise to parents, not children.
Surrogate
Advertising
Surrogate advertising is a form of advertising which
is used to promote banned products, like cigarettes and alcohol, in
the disguise of another product. This type of advertising uses a product of a
fairly close category, as: club soda, mineral water in
case of alcohol, or products of a completely different category (for example, music CD's or playing cards)
to hammer the brand name into the heads of consumers. The banned product
(alcohol or cigarettes) may not be projected directly to consumers but rather
masked under another product under the same brand name, so that whenever there
is mention of that brand, people start associating it with its main product
(the alcohol or cigarette). In India there is a large
number of companies doing surrogate advertising, from Bacardi Blast
music CD's, Bagpiper Club Soda to Officers Choice playing cards.
Effectiveness
of surrogate advertisements
According to the inferences drawn from
several surveys and interviews, 42 out of 50 people can understand the actual
liquor or tobacco product being advertised.
Surrogate advertisements do impact a
consumer's buying decision as well. They also inform consumers about the
leading liquor brands and thus promote sales.
Current scenario
With government now enforcing ban on surrogate
advertisements, companies are turning to event sponsorship, event organising,
corporate films and more and more innovative integrated
marketing communications strategies, though surrogate
advertising is still a common practice.
Should
Surrogate advertising be allowed?
Surrogate means
replacement. Surrogate advertising is adopted by companies whose products were
banned and now “surrogate” or substitute the brand name with another product.
Their intention is to make sure the customers of the banned product don’t
forget it. This process is also termed as “brand extension”.
Surrogate advertising
should not be allowed. Tobacco and liquor banners make use of this phenomenon
extensively and try to lure the public. The whole point of banning the product
was not the banner but the harm it causes to public and viewers. Hence placing
it under the same banner for a different product makes no sense.
The banners should
concentrate more on the consequences of the products (like tobacco etc) rather
than promoting them for a different product.
Most of the surrogate
advertisements are even supported because of the revenue it brings to the
different levels of hierarchy in the country.
Even though surrogate
advertisements should be banned, there many other sources and mediums using
which the public is lured. Most of the television serials are an example of
this.
If the surrogate
advertisements are used for liquor and cigarettes, they should ensure that the
public is also aware of the consequences if they are consumed. If a person has
a strong will power, there is nothing that can compel him to do something
wrong.
Subliminal Advertising
A subliminal message is a signal or
message designed to pass below (sub) the normal limits of perception. For
example it might be inaudible to the conscious mind (but audible to the
unconscious or deeper mind) or might be an image transmitted briefly and unperceived
consciously and yet perceived unconsciously. This definition assumes a division
between conscious and unconscious which may be misleading; it may be more true
to suggest that the subliminal message (sound or image) is perceived by deeper
parts of what is a single integrated mind.
In the everyday world, it has often been suggested
that subliminal techniques are used in advertising and for propaganda purposes
(e.g. party political broadcasts).
A form of subliminal
messaging commonly believed to exist involves the insertion of
"hidden" messages into movies and TV programs. The concept of
"moving pictures" relies on persistence of vision to create the
illusion of movement in a series of images projected at 23 to 30 frames per second;
the popular theory of subliminal messages usually suggests that subliminal
commands can be inserted into this sequence at the rate of perhaps 1 frame in
25 (or roughly 1 frame per second). The hidden command in a single frame will
flash across the screen so quickly that it is not consciously perceived, but
the command will supposedly appeal to the subconscious mind of the viewer, and
thus have some measurable effect in terms of behavior.
A
subliminal message also called as hidden message is one’s that designed to pass
below the normal limit of perception.
Eg. If
you see your favorite actor using particular brand you will choose that brand over
another when you go shopping next.
Advertisement
of alcohol and tobacco.
some examples of
subliminal marketing in India
1. The Amazon logo includes a kind of
arrow at the bottom of the first 4 letters of the company name. This
arrow joins the ends of two letters, the letter A and the letter Z. Some
theories about subliminal messages say that it is a way of telling the customer
that in this store you can find all kinds of products, from A to Z.
2.
Toyota logo is an imago type with many possibilities. It is possible to form each and every one of the letters of
the company with its logo.
3. Since advertising of
alcohol is banned in India, they have launched mineral water, audio collections
and what not using the same name as their main brand of alcohol.
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