advertisement is ethical?

[stussy555]

Hello

As an online retailer to a skincare product I have a question for fellow Christians here whether what I am doing is ethical or not.

I am pre selling the product with a fictional story. However on the top of the page, I have stated that this is just an advertisement and not an actual story. But this story is based on actual expected result.

The disclaimer is not hidden in small font or something but is clearly visible.

What do you think? I see that this is not different from TV ads where the actors paid are not the actual users. However in my case I even state that this is just an ads.

What do you think>

Thank You

 

[homewardbound]

The first piece of advice I have is to not compare yourself with other advertisers because as a Christian you most likely have a very different set of ethics.

As for the approach you're taking, it's hard to say without actually seeing the ad, but if you are trying to sell people on the product's benefits, why not find testimonials from actual users who have had success with it? If your fictional story expounds benefits that are only hypothetically true and have not yet been realized by any users, I think that's misleading and should be avoided.

 

[stussy555]

thanks for the reply. there are some testimonials but the companies don't allow us to delve further to reach the consumers.

 

[homewardbound]

As long as the testomonials can be validated, I think you'd be better off using them as the basis for your story, and be sure not to add anything that hasn't been tried, tested, and proven by a reliable source.

 

[heron]

Are you franchised in a way that you can't develop your own ads? It would be nice to use real people... take the time to let the product work. Who knows, maybe there's a reason they needed models/actors/photo imaging.

Since you already have an uneasy feeling about it -- enough to bring up the question -- then I think you should explore alternative options. Plenty of companies advertise without showing examples. Dancing cats. Running through fields of grain.

Since viral marketing is such a big deal these days, maybe you could ask consumers to contribute videos -- then it is not you making the claims. It's up to the consumer to make the evaluation and express their opinions. Do a survey, and publish the results. Give an incentive for filling it out.

 

[jaytuk]

If your fictional story expounds benefits that are only hypothetically true and have not yet been realized by any users, I think that's misleading and should be avoided.

I agree. It is always a edgy road to take when you are using stories that are hypothetically based.

 

[freeport]

Hello

As an online retailer to a skincare product I have a question for fellow Christians here whether what I am doing is ethical or not.

I am pre selling the product with a fictional story. However on the top of the page, I have stated that this is just an advertisement and not an actual story. But this story is based on actual expected result.

The disclaimer is not hidden in small font or something but is clearly visible.

What do you think? I see that this is not different from TV ads where the actors paid are not the actual users. However in my case I even state that this is just an ads.

What do you think>

Thank You

You should always stick to truth in selling. People can tell.

The good commercials with actors are those that are humorous or make some point.


They do not insult people's intelligence, nor are artificial.

 

[bliz]

Sell your products with real stories or testimonials. If you have none, perhaps you should not sell the product.

 

[cfish]

It sounds a bit unethical to me. I would just be up front and get real stories about the product. It's always good not to lie about what you are doing or lead people on in any way. When we lie it always comes back to bit us somewhere down the road.