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Ethics In Advertising

This morning I read something that ticked me off to no end. Ordinarily there's not much that gets to me. But my one pet peeve, if you want to call it that, is injustice. Of all the things that take place in this world, the one to most likely lead to me 'going postal' is to either be a victim of injustice or watch someone else suffering some injustice.

Here's the issue...

On one of the forums I frequent, a fellow copywriter was asking for feedback on a product designed to help drunk drivers get their cases dismissed, without penalties.

The product isn't designed to make the person own up to their actions. It isn't designed to help them get help for their drinking problem. It has one purpose... to skirt the law. To exploit loopholes. To get the loser off without punishment or responsibility for his or her actions.

Here's basically what I posted to the forum in reply to the request for help:

"To me there are projects that are too unethical to take on. I recall an ad in Reader's Digest that said 9 out of 10 doctors preferred this certain brand of cigarettes, and that the filter in that cigarette prevented nicotine from reaching your lungs, and claimed the filter made the cigarette safe for smoking. No one today could argue the dishonest nature of that ad. We've matured as a society to recognize that was just wrong. The copywriter of that ad should have been taken out and shot.

So he/she needed to feed his family, and that justifies the assignment? There's a point when ethics needs to come into play and you need to say 'no thanks'.

I have a friend, or let me say an acquaintance, who has a drinking problem. Six months ago he crashed his Mercedes into a light pole at 3 a.m. just blocks from his home. Totally curled the front axle under the car. Totaled the car. How he walked away I don't know. He had just enough brain power going to quickly call his father, who rushed over in the family pickup with some buddies and helped him tow the car away before anyone could report it.

He told me he learned his lesson...

Last month he got caught DUI. Had his license revoked. But because he works for an agency in the city government and is involved with unions etc (in favor of the city) he got his hands slapped. No community service. No jail time. And dirt low penalty fee of less than 1/4th of what others have to pay. Only thing is, he can't drive for 90 days. (Big deal) Then he's back on the road. And still drinking.

We don't need to turn over DUI's. What's needed is for people to take responsibility for their actions. If you're gonna drink and drive, then you ought to pay the price for your actions. DUI isn't an accident or 'mistake' it's a choice.

Too bad it's not like some areas of the Philippines where a cop shoots you on the spot. I have no sympathy for drunk drivers.

Oh, one drunk driver killed the son of one of my buddies while the son was coming home after returning movies to Blockbuster. He rushed to return the movies because he didn't want a late penalty. Made it there on time. But on the way home drunk hit him head on and killed him. His poor mother came around the corner from work about three minutes later, poor timing, and pulled over to help the crash victims. She didn't even recognize the car was her son's. Not until she looked inside and saw her son all busted up. And dead. His insides were on the outside. She hasn't been the same person since. No mom should ever have to go through that."

Screw 'overturning convictions'. Give drunk drivers the chair. I have no sympathy for them.

One member of that forum flamed saying, if you like the Philippines, move there.

That mentality is just what is wrong with the legal system and many of the people who are 'protected' by it. Here's what was said:

"It seems a lot of you forget that most of us live in a country of laws and procedures and we all have some fundamental rights granted to us. One of the most critical is that we are innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt."

My motto isn't innocent until proven guilty. It's "if you did the crime do the time". Period. If you didn't do it, walk. No penalty. If you did do it, pay whatever penalty fits the situation.

Lawyers don't like that concept. Politicians don't like that concept either. And especially the 'no fault' mindset guilty ones don't like that either.

The idea among our current generation seems to be, if you can't catch me and prove it, I'm innocent. You are not innocent. You simply benefited from an imperfect legal system.

This legal system has provided some outstanding freedoms that I cherish. That I truly appreciate. And that do not exist anywhere else on the planet. But the concept that it's "designed to err on the side of letting guilty people go" is just plain wrong. I would go so far as to say the system needs replacing. But that would be akin to words of revolt. Perhaps even be viewed as 'non American'. I don't care. Far too many innocent people are in jail and too many guilty ones walk the streets.

No law can bring my friend Sam back from the dead because of the idiot who got behind the wheel and _chose_ to drink while drunk. No law will ever erase from his mom's mind the vision of her oldest son dead with his insides flung across the vehicle that was so badly crushed she didn't even recognize it as their own.

"When you are arrested, you have every right to pursue every legal means possible to attain a dismissal or a not guilty verdict."

By man's law, yes. But not even the non-biblical concept of Karma supports such a twisted view of responsibility. The principles behind ancient Biblical laws have not changed either: i.e. take responsibility for your actions. If it was an accident, so be it. The punishment fit the act. If it was deliberate, punishment also fit the crime. But nowhere except in man's law is there a provision for trying to get off the hook without bearing responsibility.

That is exactly what unethical copywriters rely on. Everyone, they say, 'has a right' to get away with murder if possible.

I disagree. At some point copywriters should bear just as much responsibility as the marketers of the products. And any copywriter who promotes causes that harm others should be taken out and given the same treatment as the victims who are harmed by the cause. In this case, run over by drunk drivers until their innards explode!

Andre is a freelance copywriter, author, and CEO of Andre Bell Consulting Group. He helps businesses apply ethical marketing strategies that work. Visit his official site at www.AndreBell.com

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