Ethics assignment 5: McChina

McDonald's's universalization of its model for modernity is a difficult topic to address. In the Unites States, flagrant false advertising is illegal, but misleading advertising is rampant. It is common in our society to take advertisements with a grain of salt, so to say. For instance, a commercial may show a teen with acne, who after an acne treatment suddenly gets asked to the prom by another handsome teen. This type of advertising implicitly says using the product will make you more popular with the opposite sex. Having visited China for a period of time, I have found that while big issues are regulated by the government, there are surprisingly few rules governing advertising and consumer rights (with the exception of explicit material). This means that companies and ad agencies may have a completely different set of rules which may be unofficial. These may include not making unmeasurable claims, no matter how abstract they may be. In such a market, a claim that eating McDonald's will make you more modern may prey upon the insecurities of a country currently struggling with its own self-image, much like the teen may be struggling with the insecurities of having acne. The difference is that the people of China may not separete the dishonesty of such a claim, and be influenced in a strange way.

Because of our cultural differences, good intention will not ever be enough to address issues cross-cultural communications. In fact, convincing another culture that you're out for their bests interest has been the subject of more than a few wars! These things are not soon forgotten, and affect the company in the future. No culture likes being simplified into a series of icons and phrases. The only thing that can be done in such a misunderstanding is to issue an apology and remove the ad ASAP.

Such cultural miscommunications will probably continue to happen. However, i feel like the best way to avoid them is to work very closely with ad agencies in the host country. Those responsible for advertising in China are much more in tune with the norms and taboos of their country than foregn ad executives.