My colleague/distant cousin/pusherman Bob Garfield of Ad Age has recently exposed several disgraceful advertising improprieties—disgusting, unethical and irresponsible practices. First Snickers, for their homophobic "get some nuts" campaign (seen here), and, most recently, ESPN, for running an adultery dating site ad. This got me thinking: Shouldn't there be a guide or a list of rules which all advertisers follow? It would be an easy way to see if we are behaving as we ought to be, kind of how the Ten Commandments acts as a barometer for those guys in the movie of the same name. This is the beginning of an ongoing list. Any ideas/additions are welcome.
ADVERTISERS CODE OF ETHICS AND BEST PRACTICES, VERSION 1
1. No making fun of homos.
2. People love lists. Make them as much as possible.
3. Only lie and exaggerate if absolutely necessary to keep the client. In a recession or economic hard times, this rule is void.
4. Agencies that serve big pharma will cease soliciting free Adderall and other drugs from their clients for recreational purposes. All excess inventory can be disposed of here:
Heathcliff
Intergalactic Post Advertising HQ
360 Lexington Ave., Fl. 19
New York, NY 10017
5. Racism will not be tolerated, especially against whites.
6. Making fun of hippies is encouraged.
7. If you clog the office toilet, tell someone who can do something about it.
8. When in doubt, bill hours to General Motors, job code 1106A.
9. If you get in trouble for being unethical, make a list like this one—fast.
10. Non-creative people (like me) can be creative critics (like me).
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P.S. I saw the following ad after reading this on PostAdvertising.com. Whaddya think of this one, Bob-o?