Advertising industry
This assignment is designed to allow you to demonstrate some key required knowledge areas: data
analysis and matching techniques, legal and ethical requirements relating to the advertising industry,
organisational products and services offered.
You are asked to research, analyse and prepare a word document/report, including in-text citation
and links, referencing and bibliography. Grammar, spelling and punctuation will also be assessed.
You will need to access a number of websites includi
Advertising industry
Response to Q1: Complaints and relevant product brand
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The complaint selected is Case Number 008/11 that involves Independent Distillers Aust (Pty
Ltd) as the Advertiser. The Advertiser placed a billboard advertisement, which showed 3
young men advertising alcoholic beverages. One of these men was on a skateboard. The
comments made by the complainant with regard to the advertisement were as follows: the
boy who is on the skateboard seems to be below the age of 18 years. According to the
complainant, the advertisement appears to be targeting underage drinking of alcohol by using
the child who is skateboarding (Advertising Standards Bureau 2014). In addition, the
billboard’s location is at a train station that 3 close by schools use. The complainant thinks
that the advert is sending the wrong message to children and has to be taken away. The
complainant added that the ad is depicting young men who seem less than 18 years old and
therefore not of lawful drinking age. The ad seems to target teens so as to make them
purchase the alcoholic beverage. Furthermore, the complainant stated that the Advertiser has
a legal and ethical responsibility to not target kids (Advertising Standards Bureau 2014). The
relevant product is an alcoholic beverage produced by Independent Distillers Aust (Pty Ltd).
The complaint concerns billboard ads for Three Kings alcohol drinks: beer, cider, as well as
vodka and ginger.
Response to Q2: Target audience for the initial commercial
The target audience whom the Advertiser presumed to reach include young men aged above
- Nonetheless, the advertising campaign inadvertently reached other audiences including
young persons under the age of 18. The Advertiser noted that the 3 main models in the ad are
all aged more than 18 and that even though they seem young, they are in fact over eighteen
years hence are of the legal age to consume alcoholic beverages. The target audience loves
skateboarding, some of the kids are below 18 years of age while others are above, and they
can be easily influenced by an advert to consume alcoholic drinks.
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Response to Q3: Media requirements
To promote the product, the type of advertisement / media which the Advertiser used is
billboard. Two of the billboard ads feature 3 male models and each of them holds a Three
Kings bottle. The 3 rd ad depicts one of the male models on a skateboard while the other 2
other male models are walking behind him (Advertising Standards Bureau 2014). The
audience presumed to watch include school children since the billboard advert was positioned
at a train station commonly used by 3 close by schools. According to the Advertising
Standards Board, skateboarding appeals to persons who are under 18 as well as to those
above 18. Even as the ad shows one of the male models skateboarding and is targeted at
people aged above 18, it is really not the most appropriate choice of image to be selected for
an alcoholic ad, particular since there are young kids who are seen in the image’s
background. With regard to the product market forces at the time of the complaint, what was
happening in the wider community that may have led to the complaints is the increasing rates
of underage drinking. Consumption of alcoholic beverages by children and youngsters under
the age of 18 was rising in Australia.
Response to Q4: The complaints in terms of existing legal and voluntary constraints
I agree with the complaint resolution. The ads are targeted at young men aged above 18. Even
so, whilst the association of young adults, alcohol and skateboarding is really not desirable,
this depiction is not at odds with the prevailing community standards around safety and
health since alcoholic beverages can be consumed by persons above 18 years. Section 2.6 of
the AANA Code of Ethics spells out that advertising should not portray material that is
against the prevailing community standards on safety and health (Australian Association of
National Advertisers 2015). The advert by Independent Distillers Aust (Pty Ltd) did not
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portray material at odds with the prevailing community standards on safety and health and
was not in violation of section 2.6 of the Advertiser Code of Ethics.
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References
Australian Association of National Advertisers 2015, Code of Ethics.
