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John Lannon Analysis

741 Words3 Pages

Review of Select Commercials for Information, Effectiveness, Manipulation and Ethics

According to author, John Lannon: "We are often tempted to emphasize anything that advances our case and to ignore anything that impedes it. But a message is unethical if it prevents readers from making their best decision. Don 't let readers down by doing 'whatever it takes ' to persuade." This is sage advice, but do advertisers really follow this rule? The sampling of commercials that I reviewed leads me to believe that ethics go out the window when sales are concerned. Surprisingly, even the public service announcements go to great lengths to be extraordinarily convincing.

Part of the advertising technique is not just to convince you to “buy”, but also to be memorable. If the “hook” of the commercial sticks in your mind, you will mention it to your friends, and they will be watching for the commercial too. Also, there are awards, beyond salary, for advertising. For commercial writers and producers, this would be like winning an Academy Award. But are these awards for the most “product sales” or for the most views? These commercials aren’t just about sales, they are an art form. …show more content…

After careful review of 13 commercials most, if not all, fail the criteria for ethics penned by author John Lannon. Of his 11 points, each of these commercials fail on several counts. Most all failed the point “Do I avoid exaggeration, understatement, sugarcoating, or any distortion or admission that leaves readers at a

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