Social Criticism Of Advertising

3. Advertising and Social Responsibility
Advertising that fosters a lavish life style which wastes resources and despoils the 
environment offends against important ecological concerns. “In his desire to have 
and to enjoy rather than to be and grow, man consumes the resources of the earth 
and his own life in an excessive and disordered way. Man thinks that he can make 
arbitrary use of the earth”
Advertising that reduces human progress to acquiring material goods and cultivating 
a lavish life style expresses a false, destructive vision of the human person harmful 
to individuals and society alike.

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When people fail to practice “a rigorous respect for the moral, cultural and spiritual 
requirements, based on the dignity of the person and on the proper identity of each 
community, beginning with the family and religious societies,” then even material 
abundance and the conveniences that technology makes available “will prove 
unsatisfying and in the end contemptible.” 
Significance Of Advertising 
Advertising helps in spreading information about the advertising firm, its products, 
qualities and place of availability of its products, and so on. It helps to create a non-
personal link between the advertiser and the receiver of the message. The 
significance of advertising has increased in the modern era of large scale production 
and tough competition in the market. Advertising is needed not only by the 
manufacturers and traders but also for the customers and the society. The benefits 
of advertising to different parties are discussed in the following paragraphs.
Benefits to Manufacturers and Traders
It pays to advertise. Advertising has become indispensable for the manufacturers 
and distributors because of the following advantages:
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Advertising helps in introducing new products. A business enterprise can introduce 
itself and its products to the public through advertising.
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It can create new taste among the public and stimulate them to purchase the new 
product through effective advertisement.
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Advertising assists to increase the sale of existing products by entering into new 
markets and attracting new customers.
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Advertising helps create steady demand of the products. For in-stance, a drink 
may be advertised ‘during summer as a product necessary to fight tiredness 
caused by heat and during winter as an essential thing to resist cold.
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Advertising help in meeting the forces of competition in the market-place. If a 
product is not advertised continuously, the competitors may snatch its market 
through increased advertisements. Therefore, in certain cases, advertising is a 
necessity to remain in the market and remind the customer as done by soft drink 
companies.
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Advertising is used to increase the goodwill of firm by promising good quality to 
the customers.
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Advertisements increase the morale of the employees of the firm. The salesmen 
feel happier because their task becomes easier if the product is advertised and 
known to the public

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Advertising facilitates direct distribution of the product through the retailers. 
Retailers are encouraged to purchase and sell the advertised products.