Following ethical behavior is a good business practice
In an effort to help regulate advertising and hold advertising agencies to equal and ethical standards, the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) developed the Standards of Practice. The Standards of Practice consist of five points to which all members of the AAAA must follow within their advertisements, or else risk losing membership in the AAAA.
False or Misleading Statements
According to the Standards of Practice set forth by the AAAA, advertisements must not contain any type of claim that is false or misleading to audiences. This includes lies, partial truths, purposefully withholding information and exaggerations. It is important to note that false and misleading content is not limited to the verbal and written claims made in the ad. It also applies to images and demonstrations, as they should not misrepresent the capabilities and characteristics of a product.
Inaccurate Testimonials
Testimonials are when a person gives their opinion or talks about their experience about a product or service. The AAAA discourages the use of inaccurate testimonials. Testimonials can be considered inaccurate for multiple reasons. First of all, a testimonial is inaccurate if the person who is giving the testimonial is not portraying themselves, and instead is portraying a fictional person. Also, a testimonial is inaccurate if it does not reflect the true opinion of the person giving the testimonial.
Misleading Price Claims
The Standards of Practice states that all price claims relating to the product or service must be completely accurate. No product can misrepresent their prices in order to make the price appear more desirable. In order to make sure that price claims are always accurate, advertisements must specifically state if there are any constituencies in order to buy a product for a certain price. For example, if a price is listed as a lower price due to a rebate, than the ad must state that the low price is obtained through a rebate.
Insufficient Claims
Similar to exaggerations, the Standards of Practice forbids the use of insufficient claims while referring to the capabilities of a product or service. If there is not sufficient scientific or professional evidence to support a claim made by a product, then it cannot be used in the advertising. Even if the product is capable of performing a certain task, if it does not have the evidence to support a claim, then the advertisement cannot use that claim within the ad.
Offensive Material
All material including verbal and textual communication, audio, video and images must be considered decent for the general public. Any material in an advertisement that is considered offensive, indecent or obscene to the general public is forbidden according to the Standards of Practice. Also, advertisements may not be offensive towards any minority population including racial and ethnic groups, religious groups, age groups and the disabled population.
