Research

Advertising/Public Relations

Ethical decisions and conflicting values in advertising

Tik-ing Off Users?

July 10, 2024

On September 12, 2023, TikTok launched its newest addition to the popular app: TikTok Shop. Originally, TikTok functioned as a video-sharing platform where users shared information, their thoughts and feelings…...
Tik-ing Off Users?

The Ethics of Skinvertising

April 18, 2024

Getting a tattoo can be a symbolic personal decision, one that is not for everyone. It’s a decision to express something about their personality in a permanent and often publicly…...
The Ethics of Skinvertising

It ain’t Easy Being Green

January 12, 2023

What are the ethics of greenwashing products in advertising?...
It ain’t Easy Being Green

More than a Fashion Faux Pas?

August 25, 2022

Can inclusive advertising survive the heavy hand of Facebook's able-biased AI?...
More than a Fashion Faux Pas?

Ethical Targeting or Transgressing Ethics?

March 30, 2021

Is it ethical to use personalized data to target voters in political ad campaigns?...
Ethical Targeting or Transgressing Ethics?

Privacy versus Products in Targeted Digital Advert...

March 24, 2021

How far can digital advertisers go in using our personal data to sell their products?...
Privacy versus Products in Targeted Digital Advertising

How Much Emotion Can Health Campaigns Ethically Ev...

March 15, 2021

How far can health campaigns go in convincing people to eat healthy meals?...
How Much Emotion Can Health Campaigns Ethically Evoke?

Setting the Terms of the Debate

October 1, 2020

What ethical trade-offs accompany different ways of framing advocacy campaigns in political communication?...
Setting the Terms of the Debate

Whose Image is It to Use?

July 9, 2020

What ethical choices lie behind the use of images for advocacy campaigns?...
Whose Image is It to Use?

Fighting (Online) Fire with Fire?

June 22, 2020

What are the ethics of using counterspeech to fight online harassment?...
Fighting (Online) Fire with Fire?

Politics in the Age of Digital Information Overloa...

May 21, 2020

What are the ethics of Facebook allowing potentially misleading political ads?...
Politics in the Age of Digital Information Overload

Campaigning for Your Enemies

May 7, 2020

Is it ethical to campaign for opponents you know you can beat?...
Campaigning for Your Enemies

Are there Bigger Fish to Fry in the Struggle for A...

April 13, 2020

Is PETA right that our anti-animal sayings do more harm than good?...
Are there Bigger Fish to Fry in the Struggle for Animal Rights?

Ethics and E-Cigarette Advertising

January 20, 2020

What ethical concerns arise in regulating e-cigarette advertisements?...
Ethics and E-Cigarette Advertising

Green is the New Color of Money

April 30, 2019

What are the ethical concerns with "greenwashing" in advertisements to sell products?...
Green is the New Color of Money

Advertising Ethics and Social Issues

March 5, 2019

Gillette walks the razor's edge in using the battle against toxic masculinity in their recent ad campaign....
Advertising Ethics and Social Issues

Entertaining Endorsements in Sports Journalism

December 28, 2018

What conflicts arise when sports journalists also get endorsement deals?...
Entertaining Endorsements in Sports Journalism

Just Do It?

December 12, 2018

Did Nike do too much in their use of Colin Kaepernick and others in their recent advertising campaign?...
Just Do It?

Side Effects May Include Persuasion

December 3, 2018

What ethical concerns are raised by direct-to-consumer advertising for pharmaceutical products?...
Side Effects May Include Persuasion

Covering Female Athletes

November 30, 2018

What ethical choices are made in how female athletes are portrayed in sports media?...
Covering Female Athletes

Sweet Justice?

July 25, 2018

Did Pepsi go too far in its use of protest iconography to sell its product?...
Sweet Justice?

The Ethics of Green Advertising

September 26, 2017

Watch Dr. Lucy Atkinson (UT Austin) talk about the promises and pitfalls of green consumption on Youtube!...
The Ethics of Green Advertising