The best part for the advertisers is that most people don't notice they're being hosed.

I don't think subliminal messaging on the internet is forbidden or regulated at all.

Maybe. I think advertising hurts the uneducated the most. I’ll still fall for a pizza deal etc.

Initially I was dead against advertising, but then I realised just how hungry I was, and as we all know, you're not you when you're hungry.

I quit watching TV 2 years ago. It changes your view of a lot of things when you disconnect from the manipulative brainwashing that comes from TV. The media tries to tell you everything from what kind of soda will make you cool to what kind of person you should be attracted to, They try to shape your opinion about everything, what kind of car you should have or how many. They rarely state any logical reason why one is better than the other. Just put a half naked model next to a Budweiser and damn I've been drinking the wrong beer. It's all very manipulative and wrong. It goes a lot farther than advertising too.

As a rule, I do not believe advertising is immoral. Are there some unethical companies? Yes. Do they employ questionable tactics in advertising sometimes? Yes. However, the industry is regulated and advertisers may not make false claims about products. Obviously, they often IMPLY some fantastic things about their products, but as has already been mentioned here, the choice is ultimately the consumer's. No one forces you to buy anything. Thank goodness we live in a country where we actually HAVE the choice to buy one product over another based on its own merits. Sometimes we have to do our own due-diligence as customers and that can be a pain. But immoral? I don't think so.

I think we do not often use our power to turn it off. We seem to be willing particiants in the deception. I don't know if it is immoral.

Marketing as a whole is a form of legalized con-artistry to see how easily people can be convinced to purchase a product

Yes! Thanks for the post. The manipulation of marketing has irritated me for years, decades. I am of the belief that humans should strive to have more honesty with each other. Advertising is the opposite of that.

Advertizing makes me crazy - too many ignorance sheeples fall for the snake oil sales ALL the time!! Sometimes there are funny or 'good' ads but I do not have TV and the times I do see it I am disgusted at the poor quality of ads. We are devolving as a species.
Is is all immoral, not always, but the hacking that happened during the 2016 election and promotion of drugs or products that may be harmful is immoral - in my opinion.

The psychology applied to advertising is very effective, and since it further enriches wealthy people – it is considered moral. The Supreme Court has affirmed the right to lie (Stolen Valor Act overturned), so no one really should have an expectation of truthfulness or morality in advertising. IMO advertising is similar to brainwashing in its continuous repetition and multi-sensory delivery. Who says anybody is monitoring for subliminal advertising anymore? Even advertising in print employs significant psychological methods to establish associative memory. If you study these seemingly innocuous pictures, it is easy to find many ambiguous elements that attract attention subliminally. One doesn't even notice noticing them, but the position of objects and people in the picture are designed to associate the product with sex, food, safety, family – you name it, they use it.

If psychology was taught from primary school, then I'd agree in "Buyer Beware", however it ain't. Starting from simple mirror neurons to basically, mind control, advertising is psychology.

Of course!

Me: Immoral, the dishonesty is what really gets to me though, not the little stuff.

Also Me: Hides the axe body wash.

Advertising is necessary to the extent that it informs consumers of an available product or service. It has evolved into a different animal altogether. The deceitful manipulation you describe is the norm. It not only preys on insecurities, it works on creating them. The worst of the lot? Advertising prescription drugs to the general public. "Ask your doctor..." Again, the aim is to create a "need" in someone's life without regard for safety, let alone ethics. The FDA, charged with public safety related to pharmaceuticals, is staffed largely by executives from the industry. The monster into which advertising has grown is the ugliest manifestation of capitalism.

OK, this is out of my book Saving Gaia coming out soon. The book is about saving the planet from devestaton brought on by humans, technology and uncontrolled consumption. Advertisers and marketers use the same methods as hardcorp Nazis coming to power before WWII. The brains behind the propaganda was the best educated of the junta, Joseph Goebells, with a Ph.D. in philosophy. His most famous line which everybody knows is: Repeat and repeat a message until it's believed without thinking. This is why marketers repeat the same TV commercial over and over. They don't care how many times you've seen the stupid bullhit. It's reminescent of brat kids nagging their mothers until she eventually gives in and buys the unneeded stuff.
But Goebells' other maxim is much less known: The most effective propaganda is best disguised as entertainment. This is what really pisses me off about TV marketers. Look at all the stupid fake animals, animatrons and phony cartoons that somehow talk more effectively than a boring annoucer/pitchman and get you to buy the bullship stuff. Goebbels was an evil bastard and he's the marketing man's mentor.

Mostly just obnixious.

Take a boat ride a few miles out in the ocean. Take some sort of underwater camera device and you'll see tons and tons of garbage, mostly nonbiodegranable plastic. There are millions and millions of tons of it. I blame the advertisers for this. They're using modern technology to induce people to buy and use up stuff they don't need—disposible razor blades, for instance.

Advertising is a part of doing business. Honest services or products use informative advertising to let you know that they are available, how they work and what they can be useful to you for. Dishonest advertising is immoral. Pressure tactics, false claims and scams use advertising to bilk the unsuspecting out of their money.

I like this one on If Fast Food Commercials Were Honest:

You already know the anwser

False or misledign advertising, at lest in my mind, is immoral.

Immoral yet legal. What a society! Fluff. It's psychology and it can sway an entire society. It's why governments use propaganda.

It is said that the best career path is in anthropology. Businesses hire anthropologists to help them target their products to customers. I think some form of advertising has been around for millenia (the pyramids were probably built to send a message). With our huge population and need for lots of jobs it is more and more difficult for one idea/item to stand out hence more stealth advertising. Snake-oil sales are definately immoral. Here is a fun group that has been around a long time. [adbusters.org]

In general no it's not immoral to get a product or service some publicity. Successful business doesn't absolutely depend on it, but it helps. Word of mouth has always been the most honest form of advertising, but not the most effective.

The immorality comes into play when using tactics of fear, rejection, or flat out lies to sell a product. The advertising market has always been polluted with people who don't mind selling a lie or a scam to turn that extra dollar. Tactics advertising is based on pure greed.

A company with a conscience should be able to advertise their product in a way that is truthful. A simple cut and dry "this is what it is and how it works", if you will.