THE ETHICAL ASPECT OF ADVERTISING

The article analyzes the features of working with advertising from the point of view of ethics. The ethical aspect for her has become problematic from the moment of inception. Sellers sought to capture the attention of potential buyers, using methods and messages that were not always appropriate from the point of view of morality. The legislative restriction was not immediately implemented, but it did not help to completely get rid of unethical advertising. And now, in a society overloaded with information, some companies use unethical advertising to get ahead of competitors, overcome advertising noise and get their share of attention from consumers. The article provides examples of unethical advertising, with comments from the Federal Antimonopoly Service, which monitors compliance with advertising legislation and identifies violations during promotion. At the same time, the classification of advertising as unethical is subjective and evaluative in nature, which depends on the perception of its content by certain audiences, their personal characteristics, methods and platforms that are used for promotion. An option to determine whether advertising is ethical or unethical is to use theories about morality and ethics, such as utilitarianism and deontology. In the ethics of utilitarianism, the evaluation of advertising will be based on its consequences, the principles of utility. Deontological ethics will take into account the ideas before the development of advertising and the implementation itself — the choice of ways and means of promotion within the framework of moral obligations.