The way it's used by most businesses is immoral, but I think the culture of consumerism as a whole is one big problem.

I think we do not often use our power to turn it off. We seem to be willing particiants in the deception. I don't know if it is immoral.

Advertising is a tool. In itself it is amoral. You can use the same tactics for good causes too. It's been said that "stupid criminals make stupid cops." In that same light, if one's skepticism is not tested, how would one sharpen it?

Yep. It is immoral. Its goal is to convince you that you need a product, and does so by any means necessary, thereby showing no concerns to moral

Yes I think so, although I am not sure that affects me personally; I can see how children 'need' to have the 'new' trainers etc. to keep up with their peers or be ridiculed and some of them cost and arm and a leg and we have people sleeping rough on the streets - I don't know how to square that circle for my self. I wish we could start over again. Shpping seems to have taken over where religion ended.

Marketing as a whole is a form of legalized con-artistry to see how easily people can be convinced to purchase a product

Yes, much advertising is immoral. Whyen it attempts to convince people to buy things they do not need and plays on the weaknesses of people, it is not treating people with dignity and respect.

They are only as immoral as society allows them to be, it is all about making money from consumption. Government have banned many advertising methods in the past including subliminal advertising although I do occationally see those single frame once in awhile if I do I can choose to report them to the CRTC here in Canada and the network, station and advertiser will be fined large sums of money or even lose their license.

When Orson Wells broadcast "War of The Worlds", we as a society realized the impact of this new electronic media. The early days of television contain the RESPONSIBILITY of that media in informing the public, honest reporting, etc. The realization of the persuasive force of television triggered regulations on this new avenue into the livingrooms of the US family. Fast forward and the bottom line is sales, profits, return to investors. Along with all this, Edward Bernays (Sigmund Freud's nephew) is known as the father of public relations. He used his uncle's theory in working in the US advertising industry to increase sales. He helped the tobacco companies sell cigarettes to women, who up until then did NOT smoke due to stigma. SilverEyes, your question, "Is advertising immoral?" has only one answer in my mind, "YES!!" Good topic!

It is immoral. It manipulates everyone eventually. Even people strong in who they are will succumb to it if innundated with it long enough. It's one of the things I noticed when I stopped watching TV 25 years ago. The goal of any advertisement is to get you to buy their product. The best way they can get you to do that is to make you think you will only be a complete person if you have their crap. In other words, you will never know true happiness until you own whatever it is they're selling.

True happiness comes from within. Turn off the TV, the radio, and get Social Fixer for your Facebook so you can eliminate the ads from your newsfeed.

Yes! Thanks for the post. The manipulation of marketing has irritated me for years, decades. I am of the belief that humans should strive to have more honesty with each other. Advertising is the opposite of that.

Not so much advertisement anymore. Back in the day, yes. When you were seeing ads for stuff like smoking cigarettes to be healthy.

Now that's more regulated. It's the PR department you have to watch out for. That's their job, to make shady companies look good.

Advertising was my career before I switched careers to play music. To me it is only immoral when you advertise a product that could or would harm someone if they use it, cigarettes for example without a warning in your ads. It would be very difficult to have a business without a way to let people know about your business or product. Capitalism couldn't exist without it. If you don't like capitalism then I could see why you would feel that way.

Well. Yes and no. If you have a product or service you are trying to sell, you have to be able to get that product/service out there. And it only makes sense to present it in a favorable/desirable light. I would say that is morally acceptable. The problem comes when that presentation is misleading, intentionally or otherwise.

Case in point, due to physical limitations my mother can't have a traditional job. So she knits and crochets. If she couldn't advertise her product she would basically have to live exclusively on goverment welfare. But if she were to claim her product was bullet proof, or even that a wool product (which is a reasonably common allergen) was synthetic, that would be immoral.

I think that like with most questions regarding morality, it come on a spectrum with plenty of grey area.

Advertizing makes me crazy - too many ignorance sheeples fall for the snake oil sales ALL the time!! Sometimes there are funny or 'good' ads but I do not have TV and the times I do see it I am disgusted at the poor quality of ads. We are devolving as a species.
Is is all immoral, not always, but the hacking that happened during the 2016 election and promotion of drugs or products that may be harmful is immoral - in my opinion.

@silvereyes -- I think we need to look at this a little differently. There are times when advertising is a con. This happens when a new market is being created where there was none. There are times when advertising can be thought of as immoral or unethical depending upon how they approach the sale -- sometimes it's the amount of skin or something that appears exploitive. Neither of these issues are common, but they do crop up occasionally.

Everyday advertising can be likened to someone arguing their point and trying to win. Now, if arguing or trying to get across a point can be considered immoral, then so too can advertising. Arguing your point is merely you trying to get someone to buy what it is you think. Advertising is merely trying to get people to buy a product.

So, no, I don't think advertising is immoral, though some of it can be, just as some people's arguments can wander into areas of immoral/unethical delivery. That I don't like pop-ups, incessent hawking of goods on TV or radio or billboards, etc. does not make it immoral or unethical.

The psychology applied to advertising is very effective, and since it further enriches wealthy people – it is considered moral. The Supreme Court has affirmed the right to lie (Stolen Valor Act overturned), so no one really should have an expectation of truthfulness or morality in advertising. IMO advertising is similar to brainwashing in its continuous repetition and multi-sensory delivery. Who says anybody is monitoring for subliminal advertising anymore? Even advertising in print employs significant psychological methods to establish associative memory. If you study these seemingly innocuous pictures, it is easy to find many ambiguous elements that attract attention subliminally. One doesn't even notice noticing them, but the position of objects and people in the picture are designed to associate the product with sex, food, safety, family – you name it, they use it.

Ads are one reason I don’t watch broadcast tv or listen to radio. If it weren’t for YouTube and app ads, I wouldn’t see any but billboards.

Just spreading seeds:

Wait, wait… hold up. Are you saying that I could be irresistible to women if I use tons of Axe body spray?

The thing about advertising is that they have to keep upping the ante. It's a kind of immunity: what worked in sales last year doesn't work this year. It's the consumer's role to say no. Advertisers have to trick them to say yes.

Ethics? Not the advertiser's problem. They have to yank that money from consumers any way they can. If it means making promises they can't keep, fine. If it means not talking about the negatives a product might have, fine.

You see, advertising is the way it is because people are the way they are. The reason people have money to spend at all is precisely because we have all built up a good sales resistance.

In the respect it gives and creates jobs it is a like a fetish with a good imagination you can create a new one every week. In the way it manipulates people into buying something they do not need or want the psychology needed to go in the trash can next to the subliminal ads.

If it is plain and simple, creating awareness that a product or service is available, I am fine, even appreciative. But please, don't try and "sell" to me, I am smart enough to be able to decide for myself.

Immoral and unethical in my opinion.

The best part for the advertisers is that most people don't notice they're being hosed.