Pedagogic Cacophony: The Teaching of Ethical, Legal, and Societal Issues in Advertising Education

Abstract

The teaching of societal, legal, and ethical issues is critical to an advertising education because the subjects increase students' understanding of the field, raise their awareness of broader effects beyond the promotion of products and services, and inform students of their responsibilities as professionals. This study examined how these subjects were taught at ninety-one universities and colleges in the United States. It found complex and cacophonous structures with high level of variation by which the courses were organized. An analysis of seventy-five syllabi found diverse sets of goals, extraneous content to advertising, little agreement on textbooks, and inconsistent standards to measure student performance.