Our Attempt At Integrity In Advertising
The movie “The Social Dilemna” on Netlfix has drawn attention towards how Facebook curates the user experience so that users become addicted.
The movie has helped America take a great stride in the cultural fight towards being aware of how easily advertisements can manipulate people. Yet, I hope more awareness and action is found going forward when it comes to the Advertisers themselves. It’s in all consumer’s best interest to not let the blame solely lay on Facebook’s shoulders, but recognize there are millions of advertisers ready to take advantage of the sleezy system for their own benefit. Online stores, physical stores, local and global all have the responsibility to approach their advertisements with a mind towards integrity...and people being advertised to have the power to hold them accountable.
Two years ago when Alexa and I bought Nine East Coffee, we wanted to try and have as much integrity with our advertising that we could manage. So, we spent hours sitting in front of a fireplace (which was actually just a huge conglomerate of candles) thinking about what that would look like. As is best when brainstorming, we left google out and didn’t consult any literature until we had a solid plan; it turns out our plan was not different from what we found in literature, but the fact that we worked it out ourselves gave us the momentum and excitement to implement it.
What we came up with is a few modest rules, easily followed, and simple to communicate. Please, feel free to use them; I only ask that you improve upon them and don’t rely on our strategy, but template your own brainstorming with this foundation. If you would like to know some of the base philosophy we had while brainstorming, feel free to contact us through nineeastcoffeeandcatering@gmail.com or facebook.
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Any advertisement should give considerable attention to the accurate depiction of the product or service it is advertising.
This means advertisements:
1. Do not hide defects that would otherwise relevantly hinder the intended need or want for the product or service
We have to think about how we are presenting our pictures. Do we turn the item to hide the part that is integral to the dish, but looks not as appetizing? Do we leave important info out of event adverts, like maybe a high cost?
2. Do not exaggerate attributes that define or increase need or want for product or service
Again for pictures of food: is the picture even ours. I’ve seen plenty of restaurants in town use stock photos for their food which look delectable compared to their dimly lit photos. Another popular one is claiming your product is “the best”, or god forbid, “the famous”.
3. Double speak should be used minimally
Double speak happens when companies try to look honest, but don’t actually have your interests in mind. You know, those Drug Adds that say “may cause minor side effects”, but one of the side effects is 12 hour diarrhea…There are definitely grey areas with this one, like, do we tell our customers we’ve decided to give employees Monday off for vacation instead of saying that we’re not making enough money on Mondays to stay open? Both statements are true, and in these situations I’ve found it beneficial to check with my own internal integrity meter. Do I feel like I’m lying?
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I wanted that last sentence to be the last point because in the end that is what it comes down to, regardless of template. Each business owner or marketer can be consistently checking themselves and asking if what they do is honest. If we find that business owners don’t have a very good integrity meter (they do, they might just not be good at looking at it), then consumers must hold them accountable.