Maybe you have to live in a society with longstanding repressive traditions to give much thought to the social and ethical implications of advertising.
When I visited Russia several years ago, I learned consumers there are influenced by two great traditions: the czars of the 18th century and communism. Both the czars and the communists operated under the assumption that "your confusion is my victory," and so yes is no and black is white. "The evil is not a bad product, but advertising that gives the opportunity to choose bad things," a Russian educator said.
Because advertising in Russia is a relatively new force, and most consumers regard it with the same disbelief as communism, there is much more discussion about its place in society.
Featured later in the article is Wally Snyder, executive director of the Reynolds Journalism Institute's Institute for Advertising Ethics:
Wally Snyder, executive director of the institute, pointed out that there are sound business reasons for putting advertising ethics front and center. In research conducted by students of Missouri's Reynolds Journalism School, consumers said they'd be more likely to buy products if the company marketing it were ethical. "Honest advertising" was the top-ranked attribute that would make a company ethical, consumers surveyed indicated.
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