A Philosophic Defense of Advertising

Abstract

This paper presents a non-traditional defense of advertising against its so-called social criticisms. It is non-traditional because the defense does not rest on the premise that advertising contributes to the welfare of society, but rather on the premise that it is morally right and good to pursue one's own selfish interests. That is, it is right and good for egoistic producers to use persuasive advertising to appeal to the self-interest of consumers for their own (the producers') selfish gain. Further, the author argues that the charges against advertising of manipulative deception, persuasive coercion, and tasteless offensiveness result from a hostility toward capitalism and egoism and that these charges rest on the untenable philosophic doctrines of elitism, intrinsicism and determinism.