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Introduction:

According to Graydon (2004) adverts are aimed at persuading and informing consumers regarding existing and new products, information on availability and prices of products is provided but also they also aim at creating consumer brand loyalty. Adverts have factual information that encourage consumers to purchase products but at the same time some adverts give wrong information and therefore mislead consumers. Firms will spend on adverts in order to increase their sales volume and therefore may mislead consumers regarding the product quality or even encourage consumers to use products that have negative impact on the society. In this paper we discuss the issues that have led to the banning of two condom adverts in the United States and also describe their intended meanings.

Intended meaning:

The first advert informs and persuades consumers to use Dulex condoms, this advert is aimed at encouraging people to use Dulex condoms, the advert shows a male meeting a woman across the street but he is accompanied by some creatures at the back and this are intended to be signify sperms, however this creatures are trapped in the condom.

In the second advert we have a man and male child where the child wants a product but the

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adult refuses to purchase the product, this shows that parents or adults should not restrict children to purchase products in the market including condoms, the other meaning is that adults should use condoms to avoid unwanted pregnancies that may lead to financial instability where one cannot afford products for their children.

The adverts are created in such a way that they are appealing to the general public, they are supposed to pass the message to a lot of people and the more appealing an advert is then the more effective it becomes in the market, for this reason therefore adverts will use humor and other appealing features to encourage viewing and therefore achieve its intended purpose.

Why the adverts were banned:

The first reason why the adverts were banned is due to the fact that US advert regulation is very strict on adverts that are related to food and health, condoms are no exception in that they help in reducing sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies, however these adverts may encourage individuals to engage in sexual activities, the adverts may encourage young children to have sex and this will have a negative impact in the society, this is because the advert is aimed at informing the consumers about an existing product and this advert is aimed at explaining its market size through encouraging people to have sex using that particular condom.

The other reason why these adverts were banned is because they may contain false information, Lovato C and Linn G(2003) states that false advertising means that advertisers do not provide correct information about the quality of the product, this means that consumers will believe that the product is of quality whereas the product may not meet certain standards, example using a condom prevents pregnancies and unwanted pregnancies but may not be 100% efficient and there are cases where they break, consumers that had earlier not used the product or had abstained may be encouraged to have sex after viewing the advert.

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Finally the other reason is that an advert has some effect on the behavior of individuals, adverts will increase sales level and this is the reason why firms spend millions on advertisement each years, according to Lovato C and Linn G (2003) advertising of tobacco products led to an increase in adolescent smokers, for this reason therefore these adverts will encourage people to have sex and also increase market size by recruiting new consumers in the society and that they were aimed at encouraging immorality among the adolescence.

Conclusion:

From the above discussion it is evident that US advertisement restriction are strict on matters regarding food and health, for this reason therefore the two adverts were banned as a result of encouraging negative behavior, false advertisement is also another issue that arises where advertisers may give wrong information regarding a product and finally the impact of the adverts on the behavior of individuals will also be a factor to consider when settings up adverts.

References:

Lovato C and Linn G (2003) Impact of tobacco advertising on increasing adolescent smoking,

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Database of Systematic Reviews , Issue 4

Shari Graydon (2004) How Advertising Works, Routledge publishers, London

You Tube (2008) banned adverts, retrieved on 23rd September, available at http://www.youtub e.com/watch?v=nojWJ6-XmeQ&feature=related

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