Speaker addresses ethical advertising in Prindle speech

The Dolce and Gabbana advertisements that feature shirtless men and portray women as helpless are eye-catching, but are they ethical? Students tackled this question and others during Wally Snyder's lecture, "The Ethics of Advertising," held Wednesday at the Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics.

Snyder, a professor at the University of Missouri's Reynolds Journalism Institute and president emeritus of the American Advertising Agency, holds a law degree from the University of Iowa and worked for 16 years at the Federal Trade Commission, a federal agency that deals with fair trade practices and consumer protection.

Robert Bottoms, president emeritus of DePauw and the director of Prindle, asked Snyder to discuss ethics in advertising. Bottoms said Snyder has a sound perspective because he has experience on both sides of the issue.

"He is working to establish a code of conduct that advertising executives should adhere to," Bottoms said.

Snyder's lecture highlighted 10 principles of ethical advertising that are based on his research. These principles include treating consumers fairly, avoiding ads that are offensive to good taste or public decency and establishing a clear set of principles for consumers, employees, ad agencies and media partners.

On Wednesday morning, Snyder joined in a conversation with students in professor Robert Steele's first-year seminar, This I Believe: Storytelling about our Core Values. Steele is a visiting professor whose work focuses on journalism and ethics.

Steele said Snyder's viewpoint is a crucial one to consider.

"He will challenge us to think about advertising as an important component of our society," Steele said. "It affects us as consumers, as citizens, and Snyder will challenge us to think about the ethics of advertising in ways that we had perhaps not considered, both from a professional standpoint and from a consumer standpoint."

Before the lecture, Snyder, who speaks to universities often, connected the ethics of advertising to the poor economy.

"If consumers really believe our advertising is ethical, they will trust it, and it will help us get out of this recession," Snyder said. "So advertising becomes the means for us to move forward. But that can only happen if advertising is seen as ethical and truthful."

Senior Rachel Ardery, who attended Wednesday's lecture, said she was influenced by Snyder's message.

"I thought it was very informative, and I liked it because I could make connections to the class I'm taking," she said.