Should children (and other vulnerable groups) be protected from contemporary advertising practices? Name Course Instructor Date The spending power of parents affects family decisions, and parents increasingly base their buying habits depending on their children’s preferences (Calvert 2008: 215). Even though, children are vulnerable, there is less agreement on the ethics surrounding advertisement targeted at vulnerable groups. The advertising lobby groups view advertising as being informative to the extent that consumers can grow more confident about products (Tylee 2007:21). Nonetheless, there are concerns that advertisers use manipulative tactics which are geared towards increasing consumerism. There are opposing arguments on whether there ought to be a ban on advertisements targeting children, where supporters of the ban state that children do not have the maturity to decode these messages and are unfair. On the other hand, there are those who argue that, as children get older they are able to identify and differentiate advertising. This essay gives a background on the need for protection to vulnerable groups with regards to advertising, it also highlights on ethical issues related to advertising, the association between cognitive theories of psychology as well as the effect of persuasive ads and marketing programmes In the UK, Advertising Codes of practice give the guidelines on what is permitted when targeting children, while also emphasizing on the need to m...
