Ethical Breach

In a world of advertisements we are constantly bombarded with information, making it hard at times to truly look at what is being displayed, and what we are reading. However, when you take a closer look at some advertisements you can see their blatant disregard for their public, no matter what their initial intentions were. The advertisement I chose to discuss is shown below. I find it disregards persuasive ethics by, intentionally or not, being degrading to their audience.

Source: askCLEO.com and www.oddee.com/item_97189.aspx

The main breach I see in this advertisement is disrespect for its audience. At first glance anyone would tell you this is an advertisement attempting to promote women’s health. Further consideration, however, reveals a questionable message. Despite its good intentions, I feel this almost encourages or makes light of sexual harassment. Though it is not explicit, and a lesser example than others, it is still tasteless and highly suggestive. It seems clear the company knew what they were doing; using a fairly attractive, half clothed, male model to hold a sign suggesting his willingness to, as the popular breast cancer slogan goes, 'feel your ta-tas.' However, I don’t believe they were trying to be offensive, but rather slightly humorous. At first most might see it that way, but after a while it becomes sort of uncomfortable. This ad takes things a step too far. 

The primary audience is women, and typically it does not do to be tasteless or crude in the face of breast cancer, or any cancer for that matter. Trying to find the humor in difficult or awkward circumstances is one thing, being boorish is another. In this way they could easily cost themselves valuable audience members, especially since they are dealing with a health issue. It is easy to see how this could not sit well with people, and it could give the companies, foundations, etc. a bad image. Caring for every aspect of women’s health, physical and mental well-being, safety, and survival, should be at the backbone of organizations supporting breast cancer prevention and research. This advertisement does not say, let alone scream, any of those values. Without those values, companies risk their good name and credibility.

That may seem a grim criticism in exchange for one advertisement, but imagine the thousands of similar ethical breaches occurring worldwide. From a public relations standpoint, I am not convinced this was a good route to take in spreading the message, or reaching the desired audience. Consider, for a moment, those who have lost someone to breast cancer. Most likely they were related in some way and often cancer risk is hereditary. Imagining myself in that position I would not find this ad appealing, and especially not humorous, in any way.

In addition, I believe it is things like this that give feminists something to talk about. While it is not the worst example of what has been labeled ‘objectification’, it may serve to call into question our society’s way of looking at women, as well as our treatment of their health issues.

At the end of the day, I feel this advertisement shows disrespect and flippancy towards the target audience. Things such as breast cancer should be handled with a little more care, and those at risk should be able to rely on organizations to provide useful information in a respectful manner.