Advertising - and morality !

It is usually accepted that advertising should not deliberately tell outright lies about the product being offered to consumers.  Humour is often a component of a clever sales pitch and two advertisements showing on New South Wales television seem to cross the line between reality and the bounds of morality.

One advertisement depicts a young couple discussing their intent to purchase a new sofa lounge.  They would like the bigger one, but they can only afford the smaller unit.   The man switches the price tags, calls the salesperson and announces that they will purchase this larger unit - at the smaller units price.

The sales blurb cuts in at this point, indicating that the reseller is offering a size upgrade on many of it's offerings.  Buy a double bed - and get an upgrade to Queen size.   Buy a five piece kitchen setting and get an upgrade to the the bigger seven piece unit.

Adult minds usually have no problem with this morality question, but to juvenile minds it may suggest that switching the price tags at the local milk bar may deliver a larger bar of chocolate - at a smaller price.  Such is the danger of making something illegal look normal.

Another television advertisement for life insurance delivers an even sharper morality question.   A man is searching the Internet on his laptop, seeking to clarify the symptoms he believes he is suffering and complains to his partner that he thinks he has not much more time to live.  He believes that he is suffering a terminal illness - and worries that his lack of life insurance will leave the family financially destitute.

His partner hands him the phone and suggests that it is " not too late ".   This advertisement gives the impression that the sponsor company accepts all comers with a guarantee of cover and that acceptance does not require a medical examination - not even any question about present health levels.

The inference is that a person who has had very bad news from their treating doctor - can access a huge amount of life insurance cover by simply picking up the phone and accepting this offer - no questions asked !
There would be a grave legal doubt about the validity of any such cover.

The advertisement then goes on to soften the implication - with humour.   It seems that this person has been told from his health search that he is suffering from " a bad case of  "Hypochondria" !

There is no doubt that the vast majority of people would see the limitations of trying to access life cover when terminally ill, but there are some people who would take this message - literally.    The life cover provider is naturally eager to make their product sound easy to access to the public, but perhaps this is more a case of omission.    Would they really write a substantial life cover without a single question about the applicants state of health ?

The interesting question is - What standards apply to the content of advertising placed with the media ?
Surely there must be some degree of control to maintain a necessary "truth factor " !