Question 2 Week 10

Select an ad (pls insert picture) and discuss whether the copywriting approach is ethical.

It is important that the advertiser make sure that they have followed the ethic principles before they publish the advertisement. Most of the issues and problems are generated from who break the ethic principles. Advertisement above is an advertisement of Dermitage skin care product. Below is my analysis of copywriting ethic of this ad.

Using fictitious character for testimonials

The image of this ad is very straightforward. Consumer can directly know that this skin care product is for anti-wrinkle. In this ad, the advertiser had put the comparison picture inside the ad. But, you can see that the effect of the product on this woman skin is too exaggerated. The woman is like transform from old to young. From here, you can confirm that that is just a fictitious character that had edited to this ad.

Exaggerate claim

The ad had used the exaggerated headline which is “Less Wrinkles in Minutes”. Advertisers nowadays only want to show how creative they are and totally ignoring the fact that an ad should be provided to the consumer. It is common sense that it is impossible that any skin care product can directly let the wrinkle disappear in minutes. Normally, consumer need to wait for a few weeks to see the result. This headline has decreased the credibility of the ad.

Truthful Presentation

The advertiser should insert some information that can prove the testimonials, claims and the comparisons of the image in this ad are true. It is important that all of the descriptions, claims and comparisons which relate to matters of objectively ascertainable fact should be capable of substantiation.

Written by: Elyza Ee

Question1 Week 10

Discuss five ethical approaches to copywriting for Malaysian ads. 

Copywriting in Malaysia has to be taken cautiously because we are living in a society with a variety of religion and race. Therefore, at all times, copywriter should avoid writing anything that may stir up any issue related to that. Even if it is a joke, it may be very sensitive to the society as most of the people here are still very conservative. 

As mentioned above, our country is still very conservative, therefore advertisements should not be printed with any contents that contain any offensive visuals or any forms of vulgarity. This may be a very common method used by the western countries but Malaysia is an Islamic country, therefore all advertisements should be respecting the local culture. 

Honesty in advertising. This should not be an ethical approach in Malaysia only but worldwide. Fake advertising may cause a lot of consequences. It may lead to lawsuits if the product/services are far from the promises made in the advertisement. This may be a form of deception to the users. 

Comparisons are common, however, a copywriter should be able to differentiate the items that they are comparing. For example, it is ridiculous to compare a Mercedes to a Proton car. Mercedes, known to be a luxurious and high-priced car, it is only fair to compare Mercedes with an equally high-end car such as BMW or Audi. 

The content of the copywriting should not be related to fear, superstition, violence or illegality without a justifiable reason as there is no absolute way to filter your readers. You cannot constrict people for not looking at your advertisement if they are below the age of 18 years old. The advertisement may indirectly promote unnecessary illegal acts for readers who do not know how to interpret the message of the advertisement. 

There are more than just 5 of these as mentioned above, as a copywriter, there are a lot to consider as you want to produce a creative and not offensive advertisement. Hence, always look through the guidelines to make sure that you are not creating an advertisement which may be against the law. 

 

Question 1 Week 9

Discuss the tips to writing the body copy of an appealing outdoor ad (billboard).

Outdoor ad is an "out-of-home" advertising which is basically it is an ad that can be found in public places, such as in bus station, billboard, walls and more. Outdoor ad is usually used to reach the masses and it is costly. Therefore, the ad has to attract the audiences.

Here are the few tips:
1. Keep it simple.
 Audience will be driving or walking when they saw your ad. They only have a few seconds to notice and engage in your ad. So don't make it complicated and pile it with a lot of information. The fewer the world, the bigger the chance they will understand, and it should consists of: an appealing visuals, a catchy headline and the contact info.

2. Use high contrasting color.
Instead of using soft or pastel color, using a bold and a solid color are more visible and noticeable when the audience passed by your ad.

3. Choice of font.
Do avoid using a thin font style as they are barely visible in a long distance. Forget about all the fancy fonts, a thick stroke and a simple style font will do as long as the headline is understandable and memorable. And do mind about the size of the font. The more visible it is, the greater it will be.

4. Communicate with the audiences.
By creating a communicative ad, it will build the connection between the audience and the product. Audiences could feel less bored when they are in the traffic  and it could also build a friendly image for the company.



Written by Maya C.

Question 2 week 9

Poorly written billboard, and tips on how to write a good billboard

A good body copy is organized, it usually starts out fast and stays interesting, it is believable, get noticed but not to be a huge distraction, it stresses and reinforces the main benefits the product has to offer. Firstly, this billboard above has created controversy with overweight people. According to the research I’ve done, many obese people got offended. The owner of the billboard would probably want people to get the direct message which is good, but then this is way to direct. This billboard then was taken down due to complaints. 

These people could have come up with better ads. Yes, billboards should start outfast and stay interesting but then I do not think it’s appropriate to stereotype people. For example, the message should involve everyone instead of one specific stereotype. The rule of a good billboard is to get noticed but not to be a huge distraction, this “save the whales” billboard was a huge distraction in a bad way. For example, it should be written to interest people in a good way. Though I agree that this billboard is well organized just that it will be much better with a good body copy.  Well, this poorly written billboard did clearly stress out on its benefits but again, it is just written in a bad way. 

Written by

Divya Mae