Drawbacks of unethical advertising

"Regardless of the moral issue, dishonesty in advertising has proved very unprofitable."

- Leo Burnett, quoted in 100 LEO's, Chicago, IL: Leo Burnett Company, p. 17.


"If its not done ethically, advertising won't be trusted. If consumers don't trust it, advertising is pointless."

- Jef I. Richards (2000), Chairman of The University of Texas Advertising Department.

“Creative without strategy is called 'art.' Creative with strategy is called 'advertising.'"


-Jef I. Richards (1995), advertising professor, The University of Texas at Austin.

"Good advertising does not just circulate information. It penetrates the public mind with desires and belief."

- Leo Burnett, quoted in 100 LEO's, Chicago, IL: Leo Burnett Company, p. 54.

"What is the difference between unethical and ethical advertising? Unethical advertising uses falsehoods to deceive the public; ethical advertising uses truth to deceive the public."

- Vilhjalmur Stefansson (1879 - 1962)

A favourite ad

This is an all-time favourite, I don't know who did it though.


When entering a helicopter, remember to bow down.

Some of my favourite ads

Okay, let's take a little break away from the heaviness of the doom and gloom of advertising and take a look at some fun ads out there.

This is the reason that people get into advertising in the first place, if you ask me, to make fun ads, so here are a few.

This first campaign is Action! for Diesel by KesselsKramer in Amsterdam.

In all the wrong places?

SALT LAKE CITY - Friends say Lance Archibald is a tall, handsome former college basketball player and graduate of Harvard business school.

He’s also still single at 31, and so they’re hoping to speed things up with a billboard and Web site.

“I’m Lance, Let’s go out!” reads the billboard on an interstate near Lindon, about 40 miles south of Salt Lake City.

“It kind of came out of discussions we had, that Lance is such a good guy but not married,” said Morgan Lynch, CEO of LogoWorks, where Archibald is the director of marketing. “Someone threw out the idea of getting a billboard.”

So why the concern over Archibald’s marital status? As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members typically marry in their early 20s, the 31-year-Archibald is approaching the male-equivalent of an “old maid.”

Friends say they’re not sure what the Brigham Young University graduate and former Mormon missionary is looking for but tease “it’s taking a little longer than usual for a guy with these credentials.”

“Team DateLance,” the cadre of friends and co-workers behind the scheme, are screening date applications. The site asks interested women to describe themselves, including age, occupation and personality, and to describe their ideal date with Archibald.

So far, the Web site has received more than 1,500 hits, with several women vying for a date.

“We’re still taking submissions,” Bates said. “As much as we thought it’d be funny, we’re serious about this.”

Archibald is taking the attention in stride, although he says he’s spent a good amount of time explaining to others what his friends have done. And he says he’s not bothered by singlehood.

“I’m not overly concerned about (marriage). I’m pretty happy right now,” Archibald said. “I’d like to get married, but it’s not a concern.”