Markets

Why the Ad Biz's New Code of Ethics Will Surely Fail

By Jim Edwards

Updated on: June 11, 2010 / 11:35 AM EDT / MoneyWatch

The American Advertising Federation is set to launch an Institute for Advertising Ethics, a proposition that should trigger howls of laughter from anyone familiar with the ad biz's ethical history. (Here's a typical reaction.)

The institute's advisory board will consist of executives from:

Procter & Gamble (PG), which did not fire Grey Global Group when executives from that company were caught taking bribes to work on its ad account.
Omnicom (OMC), whose top brass were recently accused of self-dealing in stock options.
Interpublic (IPG), which is still cycling off its books hundreds of millions of dollars it took from clients in a volume discount scam.
Ketchum PR, the agency behind the Bush Administration's "fake news" propaganda scandal.

But put that aside for a second. Instead ask, Why now? The ad biz was stung by a recent survey which ranked admen below journalists, lawyers and "business executives" in terms of honesty. The AAF isn't reacting in a timely fashion here. That survey comes out on a regular basis, and ad executives always rank low on it. In 2002, Ad Age's headline was, "AD PROS GET LOW MARKS FOR HONESTY, ETHICS." In 2004, Ad Age reported on the same survey, and its copy desk seems to have taken the opportunity to have some in-house fun. Their headline was, "AD PROS STILL GET LOW SCORES FOR HONESTY, ETHICS."

So AAF is late to the game here. How late? About 86 years, compared to its comrades in the American Association of Advertising Agencies. The 4A's has had a code of ethics since 1924.

In the mid 2000s I did some research on advertising ethics codes. I found that the Promotion Marketing Association has had a code of ethics since at least 1989. The American Marketing Association's code of ethics has existed since at least 2003. The AAF could also look at the New York Better Business Bureau's advertising code. (The Association of National Advertisers, which represents advertising clients, famously has no ethics code.)

My favorite code of ethics was the one written by Shona Seifert, the former Ogilvy & Mather executive group director responsible for inflating the government's bills on its anti-drug campaign by $3 million. She was forced to write it by a judge as part of her conviction.

To give you an idea of just how tardy the AAF brass are on this issue, consider that some of the group's own members have already created ethics codes of their own. Here's the Dayton, Ohio, affiliate's.

To conclude: AAF is late and its efforts will be duplicative. And, if "BNET's Client Hell!" is any guide, the code will be frequently ignored.

Related:

Client Hell! BNET's Guide to the Advertising Underworld