The German Advertising Council – a success story for ethics in advertising? The possibilities and limitations of ethical self-regulation, as illustrated by the advertising industry
Advertisers are finding it increasingly difficult to make their adverts stand out at all, as advertising is virtually everywhere. As a result, advertisers are constantly having to come up with something new and outdo one another with creative ideas. In doing so, they sometimes breach moral standards and social conventions, as deviating from the norm, crossing moral boundaries and breaking social taboos promise greater attention.
And whoever stands out has the upper hand in the competitive battle. That is the incentive. So why do they not simply outdo one another with ever more unrestrained breaches of norms and rules? Who or what keeps advertisers in check?
This ‘ethos’ module focuses on the German Advertising Council – an institution within the advertising industry that operates between the market and the state. It has been entrusted with the task of formulating ethical standards for the advertising industry and monitoring compliance with them. This ethos module answers the following questions:
- What ethical standards in advertising should be observed?
- Do the German Advertising Council’s codes of conduct fill the gap left by the state?
- Can I, as a member of the public, take action against offensive advertising?
- How does the German Advertising Council operate?
- Can the German Advertising Council effectively ‘defend’ the ethical boundaries of advertising?
- Or is it only the state that can prevent the erosion of ethical standards in advertising?
- Does the advertising industry’s ethical self-regulation set an example for other sectors?
Through fictional dialogues with various interlocutors, ‘advertising’ is contextualised within the frameworks of economics and business administration, enabling its historical and contemporary significance to be assessed. Pupils then learn about the German Advertising Council. Finally, they simulate the Council’s role in a conference where they rule on complaints received from members of the public.
Curriculum relevance: Marketing and advertising are standard elements of both general economic education and commercial vocational training. More recent training framework plans and framework curricula explicitly stipulate the topic of ‘ethics in advertising’. This ethos module supplements the usual economic perspective with the required assessment of business ethics.
German Advertising Council module
Title:
The German Advertising Council – a success story for ethics in advertising? The possibilities and limitations of ethical self-regulation, using the advertising industry as an example
Author:
Markus Niederastroth
Editors:
Thomas Retzmann / Tilman Grammes