Ethics

Yesterdays lecture was quite entertaining. It's interesting how important ethics is in the media, and how nothing is ever absolutely wrong or absolutely right. There are always varying levels of ethics involved in media, especially in advertising, which advertisers etc. must strive to be aware of.
I am very interested in advertising, especially the how adds are designed to manipulate people into thinking what the advertisers want.
Will Anderson's T.V program 'The Gruen Transfer' is definitely one of my favourite T.V shows, which investigates the reasons behind why advertisers do what they do, and how they convey their intended message.
The following clip is from a section of The Gruen Transfer called 'The Pitch' where an idea is presented to two advertising companies, and they both must create an add, trying to sell the idea:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ruj1h6WcJ34
This particular add was an interesting take on trying to sell a hypothetical 'buy nothing day'. I thought it was very cleaver and entertaining, though to some people it might come across as a little offensive, which is exactly what yesterday's lecture talked about. Everyone seems to have their own idea about what is good and bad, or what is ethical or unethical. It is important that companies follow their particular 'code of ethics' in order to make programs/advertising that is suitable for public presentation.

On a bit of a random note, this add, (which was aired on The Gruen Transfer) is one of my all-time favourite adds, simply because it's random and entertaining, I'm not sure it actually sold it's product though:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE