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Money eclipses ethics in some advertising practices |
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Tuesday, 15 April 2008 |
Communication ethics is a class that has long passed for me, and to be honest, it’s more than a little fuzzy.
I couldn’t tell you exactly what we talked about, and much less what I took notes on. Despite the fact that I can’t spout off five facts I learned in that class, I know my ethics are now stronger than ever.
What I attribute this to is simply growing into my industry - I’m an advertising and journalism major - and learning more about the backwards reporting and deceitful advertising that goes on every day - both behind closed doors and in plain view.
My ‘growth’ in the past few years has made me appreciate what the professionals in my field must know about ethics, and has made me excited about learning more, questioning more and coming up with more progressive ideas that are both media-savvy and ethically-sound.
However, I have recently become disconcerted at the possibility that this may not be what my future holds.
At the least, I’ve seen that because ethics don’t make money, they frequently take the back burner.
Just the other day I was at a media agency in North Carolina that will
remain anonymous, and I asked my tour guide a question about ethical
dilemmas at the entry-level.
In so many words, he explained that as a junior-level employee, you can
stick your neck out and voice your opinion, but if you’re expecting
something to change because of it, you can forget it.
Fine, I said to myself. This is the answer I was expecting - though not hoping for - and that’s fine.
After all, at the entry level, you can’t expect the overhead to cater
to your every need, or for every ethical dilemma to be solved by the
end of the day.
What did throw me off, however, was when a friend and fellow communication major asked another question about ethics.
Our guide’s response was, “Whoa! What’s all this talk about ethics about? Are you guys doing a project or something?”
If the project is titled, “An Examination of the Everyday Life of any
Reasonable Person With a Hint of Morality in the Media Industry,” then
yes, you could say we are working on a project - a very long project.
The guide acted like our questions were totally out of left field - as if he had never heard anything like this before.
And perhaps this gentleman just wasn’t familiar with the types of questions we were posing.
But ethics come into play at all levels, no matter where on the food chain you may find yourself.
It can be as high-level as corporate executives using sweat shops to
shave costs and fatten their own pockets, or as mundane as simply
recycling in the office.
At the conclusion of our ethics discussion at the aforementioned media
agency, the guide suggested - not in so many words - that perhaps
myself and my friend should look elsewhere for employment - that maybe
we wouldn’t be the best fit at an agency like the one we were sitting
in at the time.
Yes, my friend, perhaps you are right. Perhaps we should heed your advice and run from our conflict rather than facing it.
Perhaps we should find somewhere where we fit in better, where other
people are as angry as we are and we don’t make others uncomfortable by
addressing issues that need addressing.
But what good does this do to complain to people who are already aware
of the problem? It puts you right in the same seat as your clueless,
stoic tour guide - in the seat of a coward.
Instead, we must face the fact that for four and however many years, we
have been trained at a liberal university to question big media, and
now that we’re being thrown into its lap, I’ll be damned if my
professors weren’t right.
Corruption is everywhere. Stereotypes are everywhere. Money is king and truth falls second (at best).
The true test will come when you’re sitting at your desk, and your boss comes by with news that you’ve received a new client.
You open up the folder to read all about it, and it’s...the American government: the most corrupt of them all.
Do you voice your opinion that you’re not willing to spread corruption,
or do you give your boss that big cowardly grin that you know so well,
and begin working on your mindless project?
Forget your marketing exam and your art history final. This is a test that will matter. Will you pass?
Edy Hinson, a senior advertising and journalism major from Newton, is an intern graphic designer.
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