Systematization of Methods of Masking Unethical Content of Advertising Content

MICHURINA Dar'ya Postgraduate Student, Department of Journalism, Media Communications and Advertising, Griboyedov Moscow University 111024, Russia, Moscow, Moscow, Highway Enthusiasts str., 21, of. no d-mich2007@yandex.ru

Larina Nadezhda Albertovna Doctor of Philology Associate Professor, Department of Journalism, Media Communications and Advertising, Moscow University of A.S. Griboyedov 111024, Russia, Moscow, Moscow, Highway Enthusiasts str., 21 larina-n-a@mail.ru

The main part.

One of the most important regulators of public relations is ethics (morality) ^{[1, p. 20]}, which is understood as "moral norms and moral relations that have developed in a particular sphere of public life" ^{[1, p. 13]}. Any kind of morality or ethics, whether religious, philosophical, professional, is based on the simplest universal principles, such as "help your neighbor, do not harm him", etc. It is on the basis of such postulates that the ethics of actions or images should be assessed ^[2]. Moral and ethical categories are important components of an advertising text, which "in accordance with the requirements of the new era of digitalization and globalization is filled with new content" ^[3], and as a result carries a special semantic load in "shaping the intellectual and spiritual and moral potential of our nation" ^{[4, p.36]}. Compliance with moral and ethical criteria in the advertising text is directly related to the linguistic culture of a journalist in modern society, which, unfortunately, is characterized by "ignorance of spelling and orthoepic norms by native speakers, unjustified use of foreign words in oral and written speech, a small vocabulary due to loss of interest in reading; clogging of the language with groups of words of limited scope, in particular in particular, jargonisms, dialectisms, etc. These negative processes, which some researchers attribute to the democratization of language, are seen by us as alarming indicators that determine the decline in the level of language culture" ^[5].

The authority to determine the ethics and unethical nature of advertising is vested in the FAS of Russia and its territorial offices, where expert councils have been established to ensure control over the quality of advertising, whose activities are regulated by advertising legislation. To date, such councils exist in almost every constituent entity of the Russian Federation.

The concept of unethical advertising and the signs by which advertising is recognized as violating the principles of ethics were formulated for the first time in Russian legislation in Article 8 of Federal Law 108 "On Advertising" as amended on 07/21/2005. When amending this law, the concept of "unethical advertising" was excluded, and almost the entire content of Article 8 was included in paragraph 6 of Article 5 "General requirements for advertising".

If we analyze the approach to the concept of "unethical advertising" in the current version of the law "On Advertising", it can be seen that when an advertising message is recognized as unethical, the importance of the text component increases. The emphasis on the text of the advertising message is due to the fact that the interpretation of the text is more unambiguous than the results of the analysis on the ethics of visual images (which not only cause much more controversy, but can also be perceived differently).

Conditionally, all prohibited elements of advertising messages can be divided into four groups:

- swear words;

- offensive (obscene) comparisons;

- offensive (obscene) images;

- offensive (obscene) expressions.

Let's take a closer look at each of the groups (in accordance with the elements containing signs of unethical behavior).

The use of swear words.

First of all, it is necessary to determine what exactly to consider abusive words. In relation to advertising materials, there are no specific instructions in the legislation on which words are considered abusive. However, it is possible to focus on the recommendations of Roskomnadzor regulating the use of swear words in the media ^[6].

Let's look at some examples of unsuccessful advertising creative from the point of view of using swear words or lexical units formed from them. An excellent illustrative example is the text of a leaflet posted in one of the shops in the Republic of Karelia. The leaflet offered to buy crayfish at a price of 600 rubles per kilogram "bad ... and sexually stupid prostitutes", as well as "workers of the hole business" in the company Bobylev and K LLC" ^[7].

The text is clearly obscene in nature due to the use of direct references to sexual topics ("prostitutes") and the use of slang expressions ("workers of the hole business"). Let's make a reservation, the term "hole business" is used in the Kazakh language to denote prostitution.

Of course, directly abusive words in advertising are rare, they usually try to "disguise" them in various ways. As a rule, several tools are used. Let's look at them in more detail.

1. Word transformation or the use of similar-sounding words. An example is the name of one of the restaurants in the historical center of Murmansk "Wild bar P...set". Here we can see the use of wordplay based on the effect of amphiboly, i.e. duality or ambiguity of perception. We are talking about the association with profanity. This pun itself does not directly violate the law on advertising, but it looks vulgar and is unacceptable from the point of view of ethics.

2. Text substitution – the specific word does not sound, but it is clear what it is about. The most common techniques are skipping letters in the middle or at the end of a word, replacing them with various characters, etc. Audio advertising uses "stuttering". Let's explain using the example of an audio advertisement from the Avtodent child care center. The audio message contained the following information:"What should I do? Attach the ant (jamming). And then it was suggested not to miss the opportunity to take part in the sale of car covers, which was held at the Avtodent children's center ^[8].

The first part of the message contains a technique for attracting the attention of the audience, since it is in no way related to the subsequent message in meaning, hence the conclusion that the advertiser meant swear words or expressions at the place of stuttering, otherwise the use of an audio signal would not be required. The analysis of the audio advertising of the Avtodent child care center allows us to conclude that there are signs of violation of the law on advertising.

3. The use of words aimed at evoking a certain associative series with obscene or abusive words. As an example, consider an ad on the car of one of the companies engaged in food delivery in Kharabovsk: "A RIDER WITH FOOD. Pizza. Sushi. Wok-approx. SEISRAZU.RU». By itself, the word "rider" is not abusive or offensive. Explanatory dictionaries interpret it as "rider; driver, chauffeur" ^[9]. In this context, it even looks (if you know the "translation") appropriate, since we are talking about the delivery of courier food delivery. However, this is an archaism that some people may associate with a swear word due to phonetic similarity. Thus, the hint of obscene language by advertising specialists is obvious.

4. Creation of neologisms. In this category, the advertising of a furniture center in Yaroslavl is indicative. As part of the slogan posted on billboards, there was a neologism "we're stuck!". This is an individual author's education, built in accordance with the word-formation models and language laws existing in the Russian language (according to the productive word–formation model, it is similar to the call "Buy!"). However, in the construction of a neologism, you can see a hint of an obscene word. It seems that by creating this slogan, advertising specialists have overlooked the associations that arise with the swear word, although the neologism does not have a swear meaning, but is used exclusively in a certain context as a means of artistic expression, calling for the purchase of furniture.

Obviously, an advertisement is considered unethical if it contains abusive words and expressions. However, in some cases, an advertisement may raise questions from the FAS of Russia if there are jargonisms in its text. In this regard, great care must be taken when creating advertising content using jargon.

An example of an extremely unsuccessful use of jargon is the advertising company of the bakery "Workshop 85". To attract customers, advertising specialists have compiled the following slogan: "Ho-Ho. Eclairs are our everything. Without a cheese ball in the morning like a loon" ^[10]. This advertisement was considered by the FAS of Russia for prosecution for the use of phrases that directly or indirectly refer to swear words and jargon. The company managed to avoid a fine, because, according to experts, the word "sucker" is a jargon and is used quite widely and, therefore, does not belong to the category of indecent.

The construction of advertising messages based on an offensive (obscene) comparison.

First of all, it is necessary to clarify the difference between the concepts of "obscene" and "offensive". According to Ushakov's explanatory dictionary, obscene means something "extremely reprehensible, completely unacceptable by indecency, shamelessness" ^[11]. In the same dictionary, offensive means "something that causes or is capable of causing insult or offense" ^[11].

Based on the above definitions, obscene comparisons, as well as expressions or images, are considered unethical. In this regard, we will focus on advertising content that is more obscene than offensive.

All obscene comparisons can be divided into two large groups: a comparison made directly in the text, and advertising content based on the correlation of text and visual series. Let's look at these groups in more detail.

1. A comparison made directly in the text.

As an example, let's give a case from the practice of the expert council on advertising of the KhMAO. At one of the Council meetings, an advertisement for a delivery company was considered, stating: "And our couriers are not deer." The basis of the experts' claims is the ambiguity of the word "deer" ^[12]. The fact is that in youth slang, the word "deer" means "a stupid and narrow-minded person" ^[13]. Therefore, in the presented context, the word "deer", according to experts, can be perceived as abusive, giving offensive characteristics to couriers of other companies, since the semantic design of the ad provides for the opposition of couriers of the advertiser and competing companies.

2. The construction of advertising content based on the correlation of text and visual series.

This category assumes, first of all, an assessment of the visual content of the advertising content and its textual component as a whole. As a rule, apart from the image, the advertising slogan itself is not offensive or obscene. But the creators of advertising, trying to shock the public, often introduce offensive subtext precisely by selecting the appropriate visual component. Most often, when considering such advertising, we are talking about the image of a naked body or its parts. The advertisement of the Ginger delivery service can serve as a vivid example. The text of the poster is a seemingly harmless phrase containing the following sentence "I WILL GIVE YOU" followed by what was offered to the buyer – rolls, sushi, pizza, shawarma" ^[14]. But it must be understood that in combination with the image of a semi-naked woman in a red swimsuit, also presented on the poster, the verb "to give" acquires a sexual and obscene connotation.

The use of offensive (obscene) images.

Today, the principles of mutual respect and tolerance for the shortcomings of others are at the forefront – this is a global trend, according to which it is necessary to take into account the opinions of various social groups.

The classification of the use of offensive (obscene) images, according to the authors of the article, can be made based on the nature of the image. Here, several of the largest groups should be distinguished: the use of the naked body, the depiction of low and high images, ridiculing people on various grounds. Let's look at them in more detail.

1. Using the naked body.

As an example, let's give a billboard posted in Kursk. The banner contained information about a digital equipment repair service center, presented as follows: a man's hand with a smartphone was shown on the billboard, on the screen of which an image of a naked woman was placed. The advertising text itself was a message that "repairing digital equipment will help you see more" ^[15].

In this case, the image of a naked woman does not correlate in any way with the object of advertising, it is used to attract attention. Moreover, the billboard offends both women and men, as it states that representatives of the stronger sex have all thoughts exclusively related to the sexual sphere. Therefore, there are signs of violation of the law "On Advertising" in the above advertisement.

2. The image of low and high images. High images include realities reflecting national values for Russians (for example, symbols associated with Victory Day, the image of Santa Claus and others).

In advertising the products of the Pivovar plant, the image of the sculpture "Motherland is calling!", the St. George ribbon and champagne bottles were used ^[16]. As a result of the review of this advertisement, the experts of the FAS of Russia stated that the combination of champagne bottles with images of the St. George Ribbon and the sculpture "Motherland calls!" in advertising can offend the feelings of various groups of citizens. In conclusion, it is also noted that in the generally accepted understanding, the sculpture "Motherland calls!" is a symbol of the Motherland calling for a battle with the enemy. The key action is the call. Therefore, in the case of the advertisement in question, it is possible to perceive the image as a call to drink alcohol. As a result, the advertisement was found to violate the law on advertising.

3. Ridiculing people on various grounds.

In this category, people who are overweight are most often ridiculed. A striking example is the advertising company of the Tanuki restaurant chain, posted on the official Facebook account, which depicts two girls: the first, overweight and fond of pizza, and the second, the owner of a figure close to canonical beauty standards, and prefers the Tanuki restaurant ^[17]. This advertisement caused a great public outcry and, as a result, it was removed from the official account of the restaurant chain, and subscribers were apologized for inappropriate creativity.

The use of obscene language in advertising messages.

Obscene expressions include those that infringe on human dignity, belittle the role of both individuals and historical events or memorable dates. Note that in addition to the actual obscene expression, it is necessary to consider the situation in which it was used. In this regard, it should be noted that the fine line between profanity and commonly used words does not always lie in the language itself: the social context is of great importance ^[18]. Quite often there is a situation in which the use of certain expressions, special communicative means, seems acceptable in a narrow professional sphere or in extreme cases, but completely unacceptable in the public sphere. Of course, such an interpretation leaves room for freedom of interpretation (because it asserts the permissibility of using profanity and rude expressions in some situations and, moreover, assumes their perception by society as a borderline norm), but at the same time it requires an exceptionally responsible approach to implementation, the design of a communicative statement.

The authors of the article propose to base the classification of the use of offensive or obscene expressions on a situation in which an obscene expression was used. On this basis, cases of using obscene expressions can be conditionally divided into the following groups: shock advertising, paraphrasing of stable expressions and reference to abusive expressions. Let's look at these groups in more detail.

1. Shock advertising.

A large group of advertising messages containing obscene or offensive expressions consists precisely of advertising content, which is based on shock advertising. When analyzing this group of violations, we will mention only the most striking examples of shock advertising: "I suck for a penny" from a vacuum cleaner advertisement, "change the floor" when advertising floor coverings and others.

2. Rephrasing expressions.

If the examples of shock advertising do not require additional explanations, then the analysis of the paraphrasing of well-known expressions causes certain difficulties due to the ambiguity of the perception of these expressions by various social groups. Consider an advertisement placed in the St. Petersburg Metro dedicated to the opening of a new food mall. The slogan on the ad read: "SUITCASE, TRAIN STATION, FOOD NEW BIG FOODMALL VOKZAL 1853".  The advertising slogan is obviously built on the basis of an artistic device consisting in stringing together homogeneous members of a sentence (characteristic of the "symbolists" of the early twentieth century). The reason for the complaint was the claim that the slogan evokes associations with the well–known expression "Suitcase – Station - Russia", which is nationalistic in nature and directed against Russians living abroad, including the countries of the former USSR ^[19]. However, the advertisement was not considered offensive, because, according to experts, the slogan has a large number of interpretations, and they are not always directed against Russians: in most cases, according to experts, Israel is mentioned as the ending ^[19].

3. Reference to swear words.

As an example, let's give an advertisement for a sushi delivery restaurant "Well-fed Panda", which was considered at a meeting of the expert council on advertising of the Orel region. We are talking about the name of one of the sushi sets "Bali Roast". In order to attract customers, the name in the flyers was written together – as a result, associations arose with an attempt to disguise obscene language. After reviewing the advertisement, experts pointed out that there is a reference not to the island of Bali, but to a veiled form of an obscene word that is part of profanity ^[20].

Conclusion.

Obviously, the purpose of any advertising is to attract the attention of potential buyers, customers representing a variety of social groups; to notify potential buyers about the appearance of a new product or service. The creation of advertising on the verge of violating the boundaries of ethics continues to be actively used by advertising agencies. However, in the pursuit of advertising creativity, it should be borne in mind that the current content control mechanisms allow any citizen to file a complaint about the content of an advertisement.

The procedure for filing a complaint about the content of an advertising appeal and the process of its consideration is as follows:

1) filing a complaint with the Federal Antimonopoly Service (anyone can file);

2) receipt of a complaint by the Council for Compliance with Advertising Legislation in force under the Federal Antimonopoly Service (today they are established in all regions of the Russian Federation);

3)                  The Council sends the complaints received for the purpose of studying them to public councils and professional associations, and also conducts (if desired) a public opinion poll;

4) consideration of the case by the Council for Compliance with Advertising Legislation in force under the Federal Antimonopoly Service (they are now established in all regions of the Russian Federation);

5) making a decision of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia based on the results of the review by the Federal Antimonopoly Service.

In our opinion, this system sins by having a number of "bottlenecks". Let's look at them in more detail. The first thing I would like to draw attention to is the subjectivity of experts. When considering cases related to the ethics of advertising content, many arguments boil down to the subjective perception of an expert based on his individual understanding of morality and morality. It seems that the reason lies in the fact that the criterion of unethicality is not legally established, and therefore the definition of ethics / unethicality in each specific case is subjective. In this regard, it should be noted that when evaluating the ethics of advertising tests, one should focus on the basic principles of ethics, rather than individual perception characteristics. At the same time, it is important to separate the unpleasant from the unethical. It is impossible not to agree with A.D. Grigoriev that when forming a position on the violation of the principles of ethics of a particular advertising image, one should be based "on the postulate that there are signs of the formation of an immoral worldview or incitement to antisocial actions" ^[2].

Our second doubt is related to collegiality. Let's explain. The decision to recognize advertising as unethical is made on the principle of establishing the presence of a certain number of citizens who perceive advertising as unethical. It should be noted that the recognition of advertising as unethical does not require the unanimous opinion of experts or the relevant results of a public opinion poll.

In our opinion, today, in order to exclude controversial situations in determining the ethics / unethicality of advertising and to facilitate the work of expert councils to monitor the application of advertising legislation in the interpretation of complaints about the content of advertising, it is necessary:

· to return the term "unethical advertising" to the legislation;

· formulate requirements for the vocabulary of advertising messages: preventing the use of abusive, vulgar, "obscene" words and images in advertising at the level of legislative acts of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia as a regulator, whose functions include control of the content of advertising content;

· eliminate the factor of subjective assessment of the ethics of advertising messages by creating a fund of existing decision-making practices on violations of the requirements for the ethics of advertising content, which can be created under the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia;

· create a scale for evaluating the ethics of advertising content at the state level.

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