Do you think that advertisers have a moral duty to avoid stereotyping people?
In
todays society, advertisements usually have some type of stereotype about
people from one race, culture or country. I believe that advertisers have a
moral duty to avoid stereotyping people due to several reasons, however I also
understand why it is done by advertisers. First of all, when advertisers
stereotype people, they generalise a whole culture or race and depict them to
society as all the same people, ignoring their differences. This can be very
offensive to some, especially when one’s cultural or race stereotype is used in
order to make the advertisement funny. Furthermore, advertisers should also
avoid stereotyping people as it imposes standards on society, which are most
predominantly seen in the fashion and modelling industry. Advertisers choose to
include stereotypes of people in ads due to various reasons. Using stereotypes
of people saves valuable time in the explanation that is necessary to set the
scene in the advertisement as the audience will most likely have prior
knowledge of stereotypes. Furthermore, stereotypes can easily create an
association with the viewer and the ad itself, as well as make the ad in some cases
more funny. Additionally, decorative and active portrayals of men and women in
advertisements can often say a lot about the intentions of an ad in terms of
appeals, which is also liked to the affect transfer concept. In conclusion, I
believe that advertisers should avoid stereotyping people, however I do
understand why it is done and its effectiveness. As a whole, advertisements have a great effect on our culture and society in general, making it a moral duty to avoid stereotyping. The negative effects on individuals or groups aren’t worth it!
I agree with your statement about that it's a moral duty to avoid it yet it's understandable why they do it. It is an effective technique and it is what sells the product that they're advertising. It can sometimes be viewed as comedic which can make people be more interested in the ad. I agree that it has an effect on our culture and society and can impact people in a negative way more than positively.
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