The latest advertisement of Ultratune starring Pamela Anderson

Running head: ADVERTISNG ESSAY
ADVERTISNG ESSAY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ADVERTISNG ESSAY
The essay is focused on understanding the implications of unethical advertising
concerning both the organizations involved in advertising and the society at large. The focus of
this essay is on analysing the latest advertisement of Ultratune, starring Pamela Anderson. The
advertisement has been considered to be highly unethical in the way it depicts gender
stereotypes. Many experts have considered it to be the epitome of misguided marketing.
However, a question arises as to whether unethical advertisements are actually good for
businesses despite being potentially harmful for thee society. Advertising is based on clear
strategic objectives for marketing. Its purpose is to communicate a brand and its values to a
specific target audience. One of its main functions is to persuade the potential customers to buy
the products or services on offer. The essay focuses on analysing the advertisement in regard to
the sexist stereotypes that are being presented through the message. In doing so the essay would
analyse the present literature that have evaluated the impact of advertising on the society.
Moreover, the actual impact of unethical forms of advertising on the revenue earning potential of
the businesses involved would be evaluated. The most important theories concerning marketing
and advertising are utilized to enhance the analysis factors that govern the essay presentation.
The main statement that is being considered for the analysis is that although advertising that
portray sexist stereotypes are ethically unsound, they are good in terms of business. Unethical
advertisements are referred to advertisements that put forward ideas that can be harmful for the
society. In this case the advertisement depicts a stereotypical perception or objectification of
women.
The Ultratime advertisement starring Pamela Anderson embodies a significant form of
unethical advertisement focused on attracting the attention of some specific target audiences. It
clearly provides a sexist and stereotypical representation of women. However, the intended
effect might have been to depict women as powerful. On the contrary the ad depicts a scenario
that is a take on the classic series Baywatch (Douglas, 2020). The advertisement ends in
apparently portraying the objectification of women. The sexualisation of the content is a clear
indicator of unethical forms of strategic marketing. The advertisement shows a man travelling in
a vehicle on a beach when he comes across Pamela Anderson. He goes into a sexual trance and
crashes his vehicle. The man is then engulfed by a giant wave from which a group of women
dressed in attractive swimwear save him. Some important unethical aspects that were found upon
analysing the advertisement can be provided. Sexualisation was the first most important aspect
that can be found. The advertisement definitely shows the sexualized image of women. It can be
seen that the objectification of women is predominant in the images. Moreover, sex drive is
shown to be uncontrollable. The man sees Pamela and cannot control himself to inadvertently
crash the vehicle. This is a very stereotypical and unethical image of sexuality that has been
projected. Another major ethical issue that can be seen is the advertisement is focused on
reaching the male audiences. However, the larger number of customers that engage in
automotive purchases are women. Around 65% of the people who make automotive purchases
are women in the country (Ultra Tune's latest ad, starring Pamela Anderson, is the epitome of
misguided marketing 2020). In all, it can be said that the advertisement can have significant
legal implications with regard to the company. It can be said that the male audiences are given
more importance while creating the message. Although the ad does not directly show women in
submissive positions, the objectification of women and depiction of toxic sexuality is very much
apparent. The implications point towards the unethical gender based targeting of the potential
buyers. Hence, the unethical factors that affect the advertisement cannot be denied.

2ADVERTISNG ESSAY
It is important to find whether unethical forms of advertising can actually have some
positive impact on the businesses that undertake them. However, in doing so it is also important
to find who actually can be harmed by these types of advertising activities. Advertising problems
can occur due to either the ignorance or the wilful refusal of the advertising organization to
consider some of the most important ethical dimensions of advertising. According to Boerman,
Kruikemeier and Zuiderveen Borgesius (2017) unethical forms of advertising can be beneficial
for some organizations if it is done strategically. It means that if the organization focuses on
showing images that attract the attention of their target audiences, it can actually get the
company the attention that it seeks. Social stereotypes have wide acceptance in the society and
often go unnoticed by the viewer given the predominance of social or cultural stereotypes among
the target audiences. Advertising is more about the viewer connecting with the representatives of
themselves as consumers in an advertisement. Despite being unethical social stereotypes can be
easily represented in advertisements as a significant number of people tend to identify with them.
This can turn out to be beneficial for the company that is advertising to a certain extent. In free
market economies advertising becomes more about the enlightened self-interests of the buyers.
These self-interest can be misinterpreted at times in view of the utility values that the advertised
product can offer to the concerned audiences. It is also important to understand the people that
can be harmed by these misleading or unethical advertising. The harm can be caused to the
society in general. The stereotypical depiction of men and women in advertisements often cause
the reinforcement of these stereotypes in the society. Hence, the society is harmed in general due
to the misleading content of the advertisements. The positive impact on the organization can
create excess demand for the product. Moreover, the advertisements can often have greater
audience reach due to their content.
The Ultratune advertisement can also have significant yet varied impact on both the
company and the society at large. The advertisement is for the Ultratune automotive servicing
company definitely portrayed controversial images of gender stereotype in their advertisement.
The message were directed predominantly towards the male audiences for the company.
According to some people this was a strategic error by Ultra tune as the majority of the
automotive servicing customers are women. However, the organization can create some
temporary positive impact with regard to its product visibility. Here, it can be said that Ultratune
is being benefited but only temporarily. The target audiences would be able to identify with the
stereotypes that have been depicted in the ad. This can create some significant demand for the
services in the short term. However, the benefits that can be provided to the organization in the
long term is not great (Friberg and Laakso 2018). Moreover, the company can face some issues
related to the reputation of the organization and its public relations functions. The society at large
would be harmed as these forms of advertising are bound to provide more validity to the
perceptions of the gender roles that are present among the people (Nina 2020). Communication
and the message are key to any advertising function. These aspects are used in unethical ways to
determine the value of the product. The advertisement targets a section of the audience only by
showing some very unnecessary images to capture their attention. Stereotypical depiction of men
and women in advertisements often cause the reinforcement of these stereotypes in the society.
Hence, the society is harmed in general due to the misleading content of the advertisements. In
essence, the advertisement only provided the popular but highly unethical perceptions of
sexuality that the various sections of the society already tends to have. Hence, it can be said that
it is harmful for the society at large. Reinforcing the cultural or gender stereotypes that are
already existing can be greatly harmful for the society (Ikonen, Luoma-aho and Bowen 2017).

3ADVERTISNG ESSAY
Culture is defined as the beliefs, meanings and attitudes that are prevalent within a homogenous
social group. Additionally, culture is also handed down from one generation to the subsequent
generation. In this case a culture of negative perceptions about sexuality is being created. This
issue can be the most harmful for the social systems that are prevalent within the country. The ad
can also create negative perceptions about sexuality in the minds of children or youngsters if
they come in contact with the content. Sexualisation is predominant in the advertisement. Hence,
it can indirectly lead to abuse and social exclusion based on gender. One important effect of the
reinforcement of the existing gender perception is the lesser treatment received by women
leaders. Around 94% people in Australia believe that women leaders are treated as inferior to
male leaders in the country (Ultra Tune's latest ad, starring Pamela Anderson, is the epitome of
misguided marketing 2020). Hence, it is important to note that giving more validity to gender
stereotypes would only add to the issues that are already faced by women in society. The
objectification of women would also create a low perception of women in the society.
Understanding the ethical dimensions are important in analysing the benefits and the
harms that are caused due to the usage of sexual stereotypes in advertising. Various ethical
guidelines and regulations guide the advertising standards. The major advertising problems can
occur due to either the ignorance or the wilful refusal of the advertising organization to consider
some of the most important ethical dimensions of advertising. Lack of advertising codes can also
lead to unethical forms of advertising. There are also self-regulations that are imposed by the
organizations themselves to keep intact public trust. Ethical and moral dimensions are important
in developing advertising standards irrespective of the advertising codes that might be present.
Ethics is sometimes defines as pursuit of differentiating between the right and wrongs (Samson
2016). However, the perceptions of right and wrong can vary according to the cultures that are
prevalent in a country. Moreover, ethical values also differ among the different advertisers. This
is the real issue that can lead to the creation of unethical or controversial advertisements. Moral
myopia and moral imagination are two important concepts that can determine the ethical or
unethical advertising activities that take place. Myopia is when the advertisers comply with the
legal or regulatory standards of the state. However, the advertising can still be questionable in
terms of its content based on ethical reasoning or consideration. Using moral imagination helps
the organizations to go beyond the regulatory or legal frameworks to consider the moral
implications of the advertising among the wider stakeholder groups (Friberg and Laakso 2018).
It also considers the effect of the advertisement on the target audience. Hence, moral imagination
has a much greater scope than moral myopia when it comes to ethical functions. It is important to
consider whether the advertisers would be operating as per the myopic concepts of advertising or
the moral imaginative aspects. In this case, the advertisers of Ultra Tune’s Unexpected Situations
8 were advertising under the scope of moral myopia. It is important to consider that the
advertisement might have been quite ethical as per the regulatory frameworks available, it still
had been unethical in the depiction of sexuality (Drumwright 2018). The harm caused in more in
this case to the society is more as the organization is not liable to provide any legal validation for
the work that they have done. It means that the advertisement becomes perfectly legal despite
arguably being morally incorrect. The same advertisement can then have significant negative
impact concerning the social perceptions on sexuality. Hence, it is important that the ethical
standards are considered in the light of the greater moral implications.
Sexist stereotypes can only be temporarily good for business while harming the
reputation and CSR aspects of the companies and harming the society at large. The implications

4ADVERTISNG ESSAY
that can be drawn from the analysis of the advertisement is that sexist stereotyping in
advertisements can only create temporary value for the businesses. It can create short-term gains.
However, organizations cannot engage in this form of advertising over longer periods of times as
their reputation can be at stake. Especially, if the audience cannot connect with the things that are
shown through the advertisements, it can lead to significant issues related to the audience reach
of the organization. Sexist advertisements also frequently come under the lens of the various
human rights or social rights groups that are present in the society. The value however, can be
good in the shorter run as the ad campaigns can connect better with the audiences by using
various cultural stereotypes. Sexist stereotypes help to create sexual appeal (O’Driscoll 2019).
This has been one of the important tricks of various organizations to gain the attention of the
target audiences. However, at the same time it is important to note that there are several legal
implications that organizations can face as a result of the social degradation that might be caused
by these advertisements. The creation of audience reach is limited to some portions of the target
audiences. However, audiences tend to be rational and understand the implications of
advertisements that provide misguiding content to the people. Advertising encompasses various
forms of messages that are put through to the audiences through the content. It is important to
remember that the message is as important as the content that is shown. If the message does not
help the customer identify greatly with the content this can cause the advertising medium to
falter. In consideration of the ones that are harmed and the ones that are benefited however, it
can be seen that more harm is caused to the society than the benefits that are gained by the
advertisers. The advertisers can gain only short term value in consideration of their customer
reach. However, reinforcing the sexual stereotypes that are already present within the society can
lead to bigger consequences for the society. These stereotypes can remain in the society for
generations and indirectly lead to gender oriented crimes, gender discrimination, sexual abuse
and exploitation and other forms of crimes. There are greater problems for the society as a
whole. It is important to remember that the advertisers are part of the same society and have to
act responsibly. The short term gains cannot be a reason to utilize unethical advertisements to
gain popularity.
The relation of advertisements with sexual stereotyping and business benefits was found
to be very marginal and short term. The strategic marketing objectives that are connected with
advertising were seen to be directly related to the development of advertisements that utilize
sexual stereotyping. It was found much importantly that sexually explicit advertisements were
indeed able to provide organizations with significant audience penetration. However, this was on
a short term basis as the social and legal factors that can affect the long term viability of these
ads are very limited. In the long term these are unable to provide much benefits to the
organization. However, it was found that the harm that they can potentially cause to the society
are much greater when compared to the benefits to the organization. Hence, it is important for all
organizations to engage in more ethical forms of advertising that focuses on greater product or
service value.

5ADVERTISNG ESSAY
References
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