Advertising in Sports & Entertainment Name: ______

Advertising in Sports & Entertainment Name: ______

Unit 2: Ethics in Advertising

Directions: Please complete the following outline during the class discussion of this unit.

I. Lance Armstrong: Advertising, Public Relations, and Ethics

A. ______ is any paid form of non-personal communication of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor.

B. Lance Armstrong – Born September 18, 1971

1.  He was the world’s most famous professional cyclist.

2.  He won a record ______consecutive Tour de France titles between 1999 and 2005.

3.  He earned millions of dollars in sponsorships.

4.  In 2012 he was charged with having used performance enhancing drugs.

5.  He was banned from competition for life.

6.  All of his titles were stripped from him.

7.  All of his corporate sponsors dropped him.

C. ______is any nonpaid promotional activity.

1. Public relations is the effort to reach consumers by generating positive publicity.

2. Publicity can be ______or ______.

D. Answer the following questions after watching Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Lance Armstrong.

1.  Do you believe that Lance Armstrong will be arrested? Why or why not?

2.  Do you believe that he will be sued in civil court? Why or why not?

3.  Do you think Lance Armstrong will ever compete cycling again? In ANY sport?

4.  What advice would YOU give Lance Armstrong that might help him redeem himself and possible his career?

II. Ethics in Advertising

A.  Advertising is usually designed to persuade us to ______certain products or services.

B.  Some critics maintain that advertising is a symbol of our society’s ______with the ______of material objects.

C.  Critics believe that advertising has “corrupted” consumers into believing that they ______have “newer” and “better” products.

D. Does advertising encourage us to buy things we don’t need? ______

E. Those who support the advertising industry say that advertising shows us ______, gives us information, and that it simply tells us about goods and services.

F. According to supporters, it is the consumer who makes the ______decision to purchase a product or not.

G. Can advertising “make” you do something you don’t really want to do? ______

III. Common Criticisms of Advertising: Deceptive, Manipulative, Offensive

A. Deception in Advertising

1. ______advertising, also known as false or misleading advertising, is defined as any advertising message that omits important information and is likely to mislead the average, reasonable consumer.

2. It is ______to engage in deceptive or misleading advertising according to the Federal Trade Commission.

3. ______is a deceptive form of advertising that consists of advertising a low cost item to draw customers to the location, but the advertised product is not available so the customer is switched to a more costly product.

4. Under the regulations of the Federal Trade Commission bait-and-switch advertising is ______.

5. ______is advertising that praises an item with personal opinions, superlatives, or exaggerations that are vague and state no specific facts.

6. Puffery is ______illegal according to the Federal Trade Commission.

7. A ______is a word that means an extreme or unsurpassed level.

Examples: excellent, awesome, fantastic, sensational.

8. ______is an exaggerated statement based on an opinion, not facts.

B. Manipulation in Advertising

1.  The average child in the United States watches approximately ______commercials each year.

2.  Advertisers spend $15 to $17 billion to market to U.S. children.

3.  About ______of global brands actually go after the 8-12 market.

4.  Over $130-670 billion of parental purchases are influenced by children ______.

5.  This Burger King commercial was shown extensively on Nickelodeon and the Cartoon network. Is this commercial appropriate for children? Is it offensive? Is it manipulative? ______

6.  In Sweden and Norway, advertising aimed at children under _____ is ______.

7.  In England it is lawful to target children with advertising – same as in the United States.

8.  Do you believe there is a connection between advertising to children and poor health? Explain. ______

9.  Is it appropriate to advertise products that are generally considered to be unhealthy or illegal for minors at sporting events? ______

10.  The Sprint Cup was known as the Winston Cup from 1971 to 2003. Why did NASCAR refuse to renew the naming rights with the RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company for this race? ______

11.  NASCAR dropped tobacco as a sponsor but added a liquor company. In your opinion, was this change in sponsors an ethical decision? Why or why not. ______

______

C. Taste in Advertising

1.  Everyone has their own ______about what constitutes good taste.

2.  ______things ______different ______.

3.  What is in good taste to some people is objectionable to others.

4.  Some might find ads for underwear, laxatives, or certain hygiene products to be ______.

5.  However, taste ______over time. Example: A deodorant ad in Ladies Home Journal resulted in the cancellation of hundreds of subscriptions by offended women, the year was 1919.

6.  Actor Christopher Reeve, famous for playing Superman, became a paraplegic in 1995 after being thrown from a horse. He died in 2004 of complications from his paralysis. He was featured in a Nuveen Investments commercial that aired during the 2000 Super Bowl. View the commercial. Do you feel that the commercial was tasteful or distasteful? Explain. ______

______

7.  The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has banned “hostile and offensive” mascots during postseason play. The ruling bars any university, with a mascot that could be considered offensive to Native Americans, from hosting or participating in postseason tournaments. Why has the NCAA made this ruling?

______

8.  Why have some schools refused to change their mascot names?

______

9.  Arkansas State University officially removed its mascot, the "Indians," in 2008, replacing it with the "Red Wolves," at the request of the Osage tribe.

10.  The NCAA granted a waiver to Florida State University for its use of the “Seminole” as its mascot. The Seminole Tribe has sanctioned the use of the Seminole as Florida State University’s mascot. Max Osceola, the chief and general council president of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, has stated that he regards it as an “honor” to be associated with the university.

11.  The Sioux tribe has refused to approve the use of the name "Fighting Sioux" in the name of the University of North Dakota. UND has appealed several times to the NCAA and is currently under a championship host ban for not removing the mascot name.

IV. The Federal Trade Commission

A.  The ______oversees all commerce and commercial communications in the U.S.

B.  This agency upholds laws, decides cases, and enforces standards to ensure that misleading and ______does not occur.

C.  In cases where advertising has been deceptive, the FTC can require corrective measures.

D.  The FTC can impose the following corrective measures:

1.  The FTC may send a ______order, which is a legal order to stop the deceptive advertising.

2.  The FTC can require the company to pay for ______that correct any false impressions left by the deceptive ads.

3.  The FTC can ______the offending company.

E.  The United States Olympic body sent the cease and desist letter to a knitting social network called Ravelry, which held a knitting "Olympics" over the past three years and was planning to run the event again this year.

V. Federal Communications Commission

A.  The FCC regulates communications in the United States.

B.  The FCC enforces federal law that prohibits the ______of obscene material.

C.  The FCC also promotes competition and investment in broadband services.

D.  The FCC fined CBS $550,000 for the Janet Jackson “wardrobe malfunction” during the halftime show of the 2004 Super Bowl. Following the incident, the NFL announced that MTV, which also produced the halftime show, would never be involved in another halftime show.

VI. Self-Regulation in Advertising

A.  While advertising is regulated by state and federal government agencies, advertisers also engage in ______.

B.  Some media refuse to accept ads for objectionable or controversial products. Example: Reader’s Digest will not accept liquor ads.

C.  The ______Business ______is made up of advertisers and the media and serves as a source of advice for advertisers.

VII. Comparative Advertising

A.  ______is an advertising strategy in which a competitor’s product or service is mentioned in an attempt to show that the competitor has an inferior product or service.

B.  The FTC supports comparative advertising but requires that all claims be ______.

C.  Comparative advertising is considered deceptive unless specific claims are based on ______.

VIII. Ethical Dilemma

A.  An ______is a situation that involves a conflict between two apparent moral responsibilities.

B.  Making one decision will result in an equally unpleasant, but different, outcome.

C.  Example: You can save an endangered species from extinction if you decide to allow hunters to kill members of that species.

Watch the Video: Ethical Dilemma: Hunting Endangered Animals

1. Describe the ethical dilemma faced by conservationists.

2. What would you do in this situation? Explain your answer.

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