普通高中課程標準實驗教科書英語選修高三選修9 Unit 5 Inside advertising-Using Langu
KEEPING ADVERTISEDRS HONEST
Organizations and individuals advertise because they want to persuade people to behave in certain ways, for example to buy a certain brand of rice, stop speeding or see a movie at their cinema. Advertisers go, to a lot of trouble and expense to make adverts and so they want to make sure they achieve their purpose. Unfortunately, not all advertisers are good or honest people. Unless we have ways to protect ourselves, these dishonest advertisers will tell lies or use methods that may mislead us. Fortunately, most countries have developed ways to control advertising and prevent false or unsuitable advertising.
The law
One way to control advertising is to make laws that prevent advertisers doing the wrong thing. Many countries have laws that forbid ads being shown at inappropriate times or in unsuitable places. For example, an ad that has an adult theme cannot be shown during children's television programmes. In some countries advertising alcoholic drinks or tobacco is banned altogether. There are also laws in most places that prevent advertisers making false statements about their products or from promoting immoral or harmful behaviour.
Advertising organizations
Most advertisers are decent and honest, and they are as interested as everyone else in making sure ads are ethical. For this reason,
most advertisers belong to advertising organizations that not only educate and support their members, but also make rules for everyone in the organization to follow. They are called a code of ethics and include such rules as: Advertisements must not be untruthful or misleading; Advertisements must not say bad things about other people's products. If well-known people are used in advertisements, they must be honest and truthful about products they advertise.
Complaints organization
Even though there are laws and advertisers' codes of conduct, some bad ads do get made. This is why many countries have a government organization which examines complaints about ads. A consumer can complain to the organization, giving reasons for their complaint, and if the complaint is correct, the organization can make the company stop using the offending advertisement.
The consumer
You may have heard the saying: "Buyer Beware". This means that the consumer is responsible for checking the product before buying. When it comes to advertising, consumers need to be educated about techniques used by advertisers so they can judge the claims for themselves and not blindly accept everything that is said in advertisements. As we are flooded with advertisements in our modem world, many schools believe it is their duty to educate students about advertising.
