Advertising can be used in several ways such as promoting products and services or sending out messages to influence one’s thinking. Based on ethical advertising standard, any form of discrimination with components based upon race and religion should not be included in advertisements (International Charter, 2011). However, this has become a major issue in Malaysia’s advertising industry.
An article ‘Media Prima pulls out ‘racist’ Ramadan ads’ which was featured in The Malaysian Insider online newspaper on 2 August 2011 reported that, Media Prima has been heavily criticized by the Malaysian public in releasing the Ramadan commercial that tinged with racism and sexism on the 8TV channel. A Chinese girl depicted as being obnoxious, openly eating and wearing revealing clothing in public during the fasting month was deemed offensive by the public.
According to Schriver (1997), message interpretation may be differing depending on the reader's background knowledge, attitudes, and values. In this case, the offensive Ramandan commercial has been interpreted differently by the Muslim and non-Muslim. The 8TV chief executive officer claimed that the purpose of commercial was to advise non-Muslims on how to behave during Ramadan. However, for non-Muslim, it has been viewed as a racist advertisement, insulting and disrespectful to their culture and belief.
Synder (2011) explains establishing a private and internal ethics discussion would prevent companies from pull ads attacked by the public. Since there are multiple ethnics and cultures in Malaysia, advertisers must fully understand and take the situational and cultural context into account before making an ads and releasing it to the public so it will not misinterpret the intended meaning behind the commercial by the target audiences.
In conclusion, it is important to be sensitive and aware of potential advertising restriction, particularly in areas with diverse cultures and beliefs. Doing proper research before releasing an advertisement might prevent a potential public backlash. Failure to do so will result in a public protest, leading to a loss in company reputation, such as in the case of Media Prima.
References
International Charter 2011, Ethical Advertising Standard, viewed 15 November 2011,
International Charter 2011, Ethical Advertising Standard, viewed 15 November 2011,
<http://www.icharter.org/standards/eas405/>.
Schriver, KA 1997, Dynamics In Document Design: Creating Text for Readers, Wiley Computer Pub, New York.
Synder, W 2011,'Making the case for enhanced advertising ethics', Journal of Advertising Research, vol. 51, no.3, pp. 477-483.
Yow, HC 2011,'Malaysia: Media Prima pulls out 'racist' Ramadan ads', The Malaysian Insider, 2 August, viewed 15 November 2011,
Schriver, KA 1997, Dynamics In Document Design: Creating Text for Readers, Wiley Computer Pub, New York.
Synder, W 2011,'Making the case for enhanced advertising ethics', Journal of Advertising Research, vol. 51, no.3, pp. 477-483.
Yow, HC 2011,'Malaysia: Media Prima pulls out 'racist' Ramadan ads', The Malaysian Insider, 2 August, viewed 15 November 2011,
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