Should the Barnardos Silver Spoon advertisement campaign have been banned?
A study of an advertising campaign and the ethical issues involved. Media influence refers to the impact of mass media, it has the ability to shape our society’s way of thinking and it has the power to send a strong and influential message to its audience. Advertising media is a form of communication whose purpose is to promote a particular product or service. The message that these adverts send off are not always positive so therefore, certain regulatory authorities are there to counteract this negative influence. In the UK, the content of advertisements are regulated by the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) and they have the authority to ban any adverts that are harmful, misleading or offensive. In winter 2003, Barnardo’s launched their “Silver spoons” campaign against poverty but within three months, the campaign was banned.