This act is known as the Drugs and Magic Remedies (objectionable advertisements) act, 1954. This act was enacted to control the advertisements of drugs in certain cases, to prohibit the advertisements for certain drugs for matters connected therewith. DEFINITIONS: The important terms appearing in the Act such as advertisement, drug, magic remedy, and registered medical […]

Media have to be free to be credible, and competent. Too much political pressure and intervention usually makes the media to be a puppet in the hands of politicians and pressure groups. Media in a democracy at the same time should not be that free to do anything that may go against the concept of […]

The Press Council of India formulated guidelines to achieve a balance between the right to Privacy of the public persons and the right of the press to have access to information of public interest and importance. International conference of the World Association of Press Councils (WAPC) held in April 1998 in Delhi, stressed that there […]

People have a right to lead a life without disturbed by others and noticed by others. Right to Privacy Privacy is an fundamental right of people. Everyone has the right to live their private life, without anyone intervening it. But an all acceptance law to guarantee absolute right to privacy cannot be existing, and no […]

This is perhaps the most controversial aspect of advertising. It is not much of an ethical issue. It is more of a social issue. Earlier we discussed about the portrayal of woman as stereotypes. Let us discuss about the portrayal of women as glamour props. Scantily clad women might be okay for an ad for […]

Three main products, which fall under this category, are condoms, alcohol, and tobacco products. Alcohol and tobacco advertising have been banned in many countries including India (on DD and AIR) and the USA television networks. While alcohol and tobacco product manufacturers say that truthful and non-deceptive advertising of legal products is constitutional. Supporters of the […]

Stereotyping involves presenting a group of people in a pattern or manner that lacks individuality. This involves generalization. We have many stereotypes in our society like people consider that Punjabis are boisterous, Bengalis and Keralites are intellectuals etc. Also all South Indians eat only dosa, idli and sambar. Mothers in law and daughters in law […]

Different people have different opinion about what constitutes good taste. What is good taste to some people is objectionable to others. Different things offend different people. For example some people like the Kamasutra ads and consider these to be sensual. Many others find these ads obscene. Even the ads of Deluxe Nirodh that shows a […]

Another type of advertising that often comes under criticism is the use of advertorials. An advertorial is half advertisement and half editorial. It is advertisement written in the form of a news story or an article – using the format and language of newspapers. These are mostly placed as part of the editorial content of […]

While most ads try to highlight the best features of the brands advertised and use a positive approach, many ads try to show their competitors in a bad light using a negative approach. This kind of approach is mostly used for political advertising and especially in the USA. The ads created for US Presidential campaigns […]