Assigment Marketing Comunications


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Marketing Communication
MKT 546
Group Assignment
Topic : 5s’ Banned Advertisements

Synergy Group Members:








Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Alcohol Advertisement
  3. Tobacco Advertisement
  4. Advertising is Untruthful and Deceptive – On Culture and Religion Issue
  5. Fast Food Advertisements
  6. Gambling Advertisements
  7. Conclusion













Introduction
Advertisement are aimed at persuading and informing consumers regarding existing and new products, information on availability and prices of products is provided but also they also aim at creating consumer brand loyalty. Adverts have factual information that encourage consumers to purchase products but at the same time some adverts give wrong information and therefore mislead consumers. Firms will spend on adverts in order to increase their sales volume and therefore may mislead consumers regarding the product quality or even encourage consumers to use products that have negative impact on the society.
                                       
Most of the time of course, that is a good idea. Often, we feel good about something because we have had positive experiences with it in the past. The problem is that we allow advertisers to have access to our mental world. They have paid for the opportunity to slip information to us about what feels good. That information ultimately affects the way we make choices, whether we know it or not.

There are a lot of reasons why the government came out with such an idea to ban the advertisement. It is simply because it creates more disadvantages than the advantage. For examples in Malaysia, alcohol advertising on radio and televisions was outlawed in 1995. However, non-Malay newspapers and magazines are allowed to continue alcohol advertising. Due to the ban, liquor companies and cigarettes companies focused more on promotions for brand building. The ban on advertising of alcohol beverage products has severely handicapped communication with consumers. Companies with liquor brands are not advertising liquor products; instead they have extended the equity of their brands into other fields. However as the TV was the most effective medium of advertising, surrogate advertising on TV became popular. In the mean time, some producers entered new segments under the liquor brand or advertised these products under liquor brand. The surrogate advertisements from companies which their advertisement banned by Government intensively work up the advertisement through sponsorships of movies, music shows, and other programs and attracting youth.

Malaysia is a multiracial country with Islam being the largest practiced religion, according to the Islamic Quran, it gives detailed rules and regulations which the Islamic countries that engage in business practices should uphold. For instance; a guideline has been given on how to deal with debts and interest in business. Those who do business in the Islamic countries are not allowed to produce, sell and purchase any kind of goods which are restricted by the Islamic law and Islam also condemns any form of advertisement restricted by law.


1. ALCOHOL ADVERTISMENTS
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Guinness Brownies

Alcohol is a dangerous drug and a major public health menace in the Malaysia and many other parts of the world.  Drinking alcohol is a disruptive social evil and it has been recognized as such since the beginning of the Islamic era.
 Alcohol is prohibited in most Muslim countries, and all countries ruled under some form of the Shariah, because of religious proscriptions of alcohol and other intoxicants from the Quran and Sunnah.
The Islamic prohibition on consumption of alcoholic drinks is thus the earliest and longest-lasting, reinforced by being embedded in religious teaching; still, both historically and at present, its enforcement varies considerably in different Muslim states and societies
Saudi Arabia completely bans the production, importation or consumption of alcohol and imposes strict penalties on those violating the ban, including weeks to months of imprisonment  
In Brunei, alcohol consumption in public is banned and there is no sale of alcohol. Non-Muslims are allowed to purchase a limited amount of alcohol from their point of embarkation overseas for their own private consumption. Non-Muslims over 17 years of age may be allowed to bring in not more than two bottles of liquor (about two quarts) and twelve cans of beer per person into the country.

Restrictions on Alcohol Advertising
Direct alcohol advertising is not allowed over the broadcast media and on billboards, except in the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Alcohol advertising is permitted in cinemas, on video cassettes and the print media. Sponsorship activities are allowed. Below are provided some tactics used by the alcohol industry to market to Malaysians.

Targeting Malaysia's Poor Indian drinkers
The 1980s Guinness campaign, "Guinness Stout is good for you" has been a successful campaign in capturing the poorer working class. This drink is promoted as a drink that "will put back what the day takes out" and is appealing to the poor because it contains more alcohol than beer for the same price.
Deepavali – Religious occasions such as the Hindu festival of lights is not spared in the advertising campaign. Here the Malaysian Indians, traditionally poorer and the heavy drinkers in Malaysian society are targeted.

Making Health Claims – Dangerous Lies
Some advertisements are nothing short of dangerous in their misleading claims. While it is illegal to make health claims in some countries, in Malaysia alcoholic drinks such Yomeishu which contain 14 percent alcohol, and DOM Benedictine which contain 40 percent alcohol claim health giving and medicinal properties. DOM Benedictine is promoted as a health restorative particularly targeted at mothers who have just given birth. It claims it is "simply full of goodness" and helps give you a greater resistance to colds and indigestion."

Guinness Stout advertisement implies it is good for male fertility.


Targeting Native Drinkers
The native peoples of Sabah and Sarawak celebrate the local rice harvest festival called Gawai. Anchor advertises its alcoholic drinks to be drunk as part of this celebration.

Sponsoring Activities
Guinness Anchor Beer Company has often targeted the poorer Malaysia Indian community with its sponsorship activities. The company would regularly bring in film stars and celebrities from India to appeal to the Malaysian Indian cinema buffs and organise on the road variety shows in a number of major cities and towns. The company has also tried to ingratiate itself with the Indian community by sponsoring variety shows in cooperation with social organisations such as the Malaysian Indian Graduates Association to raise funds for scholarships for poor Indian students.

Carlsberg aimed at getting youngsters to be Information Technology literate by pledging to give 10 cents for every crown cork or can-ring from small bottles or cans. The real intention of this is of course to increase consumption in the name of charity.

Alcohol Advertising in The Future
Alcohol companies have already started sponsoring music and sports. Were there to be a ban on alcohol advertising in the future, the alcohol companies would undoubtedly take the same route as the tobacco companies - indirect advertising or brand stretching. This is an unhealthy move.
Designer Alcoholic Drinks
More teenagers in Malaysia are starting to drink alcoholic beverages at an earlier age. 45 per cent of Malaysian youths under 18 consume alcohol regularly. Of all the legal and illegal drugs, alcohol is by far the most widely used by teenagers, and according to a national survey many are regularly drinking to excess.
A few years ago new designer alcoholic drinks specially targeting teenagers entered the Malaysian market. These are alcoholic lemonades and sodas with 4-5 per cent alcohol, commonly referred to as “alcopops”. They went by brand names such as Hooch, Stinger, DNA and Lemonhead and the bottles were colorful with cartoon characters, which clearly indicated they were designed specially to appeal to young people.

Problems Associated with Alcohol
1. Alcohol creates poverty
In Malaysia, the biggest victims of alcohol are the poor, particularly the rural Indian labourers who work in rubber and oil palm estates. Here alcohol is a major cause of poverty. They drink stouts because they believe it will give them energy
They spend about RM20million a year on stouts. A regular drinker can down six bottles a day, which works out to RM54.00 or about his daily pay. In a month he can spend about RM600 on stouts which are about how much he earns.

2. Road accidents
The Road Safety Council estimates that 30 per cent of road accidents nation-wide are caused by drinking and driving. Drivers have 24 hours within which to report a crash, causing a likely under-reporting of drunken driving crashes.

3. Domestic problems
According to the Women's Aid Organization, a local NGO, ethnic Chinese and Indian respondents listed "influence of alcohol" as the leading reason for wife battery, while across all ethnic groups "influence of alcohol" ranked second.
The alcoholic drinks menace ruins families and contributes to the breakdown of the basic social fabric of society. Often it is the women who bear the brunt of this problem – wife battery, discord in the home, abused and deprived children, non-working or chronically ill husbands who become a burden to both the family and society. Besides loss in family income, the burden on the family is worsened when the drinker falls ill, can't work and needs medical treatment.
LEGISLATION REGULATING ALCOHOL
  1. Selling and serving alcoholic beverages
Retailers are required to obtain a license to sell and serve alcoholic beverages. However a license is not required to sell beer in bottles and cans. Most coffee shops, however, will sell beer and routinely provide a bottle opener so that the beer can be consumed at the premises. This is illegal, as a Beer House License is required to serve beer on the premises.

2. Drinking and driving
The legal limit for drinking is 80 mg of alcohol in 100 milliliters of blood. If caught driving while over the legal limit the penalty is a RM2000 fine or a maximum of six months jail sentence or both for the first offence along with loss of license.
Taxes
Taxes are a flat rate and do not rise with inflation. In addition to duties and excise tax, the government levies a sales tax of 20 per cent. Alcohol taxes are often regarded as "sin" tax and the alcohol industry often lobbies to keep taxes low. All in all the government collects in total (import duties, excise duties and sales tax) about RM1billion in taxes from alcohol per annum.

Recommendations:
1.    Ban all forms of advertising, (direct and indirect), sponsorship and promotional activities of the alcohol companies including contests, redemption schemes, sponsorship sports and variety shows and special offers at happy hours. Ban the use of women to promote alcohol directly to customers in restaurants, bars and lounges.

2.    Alcohol taxes should be further increased. There should be a separate dedicated tax on alcohol, which can be channeled to alcohol control activities.


3.    Duty free status of alcohol sold at airports, in duty free shops, and on board the national carrier should be eliminated. Tax exemptions for alcohol advertising and marketing as a cost of doing business should be eliminated.

4.    Step up the enforcement of the law to curb illegal sales of liquor, especially in sundry shops and homes. Enforce the Beer House License on coffee shops to curb serving of beer without a license.

5.    Alcohol control activities should be seen as the responsibility of local government, the health sector, and the local community. Address the underlying problems that drive people to drink such as poverty, inadequate living, and working conditions.

6.    Develop alcohol rehabilitation programmed nation-wide, particularly in rural areas to include hospital-based care as well as residential and non-residential care and after-care.












2. CIGARETTE ADVERTISEMENTS
 

Introduction on Banned Advertisement for Tobacco

In Malaysia, the displaying of cigarette packets in advertisements with a general warning on long-time smoking that came into effect in June 1976 has been banned since 1995. However, this has not stopped tobacco companies from advertising their products.
There are also restrictions on tobacco advertising after the ban of displaying of cigarette packaging, print media advertising is restricted to only one page and advertising on television should not be more than 15 seconds.
They tobacco companies have found ways to continue to build their brands by using brand names for a bistro and cybercafés; such as Benson & Hedges and Sampoerna.
We are not surprise if another products line such as stationery, accessories, clothing like Dunhill, Marlboro Classics, Davidoff, Pall Mall, John Player Specials, Winfield and Winston. Holiday tours like Mild Seven Seafarers Club, Peter Stuyvesant Travel and Tours, Kent Holidays and Salem Holidays and even in the sponsorship of concerts and entertainment events. 
All of these are indirect advertising strategies employed by tobacco companies. Tobacco advertising continued without the display of cigarette packaging until January 2003, when the Malaysian federal government banned even such indirect advertising of tobacco brands, except in certain establishments licensed to sell tobacco products.
Formula One Grand Prix and other sporting events are still allowed to use tobacco sponsorship. In 2009, Malaysian government halted the branding of cigarettes as "light" or "mild" on all smoking packages and has decided to place graphic images on the cigarette packs to show the adverse long-term effects of excessive smoking. Many tobacco companies hit in the developed world by lawsuits and a maturing market have looked for profits in developing countries where advertising rules are generally laxer.
Currently, direct tobacco advertising is banned in Malaysia under nine-year-old regulations, but tobacco companies have exploited loopholes in the law to advertise indirectly and sponsor sport.

The revised law will be more specific, has been implemented held by Ministry of Health. Three tobacco companies, British American Tobacco, Japan Tobacco Industry and Philip Morris, have agreed to withdraw all forms of cigarette-related advertisements. The rise in smokers to increased spending on advertising, and said that the Ministry of Health could never compete with their spend - an estimated $12.4m between January and May this year. Nearly 25% of Malaysians were smokers in 1996, compared with 21.5% in 1986.
MALAYSIA BANNED TOBACCO ADS

Tobacco Can Course Cancer and Others Sickness Effects
The risk of lung cancer is greater in cigarette smokers than in cigar or pipe smokers. Tobacco can course a lung-cancer death rate, cigarette tobacco (flue-cured) has a high sugar content while cigar tobacco has low sugar content.
Determinations of the sugar content of the tobacco and the pH of the smoke of cigarettes from more than 30 countries, and of a number of cigar and pipe tobaccos, have been carried out. The main differences found between the characteristics of cigarette and cigar and pipe tobaccos are:
The high sugar content of the popular brands of cigarettes now smoked in many countries, which results in the production of a smoke of acid pH, becoming progressively more acid during the course of smoking, particularly towards the butt-end of the cigarette when the tar content of the smoke is at its highest.

The low sugar content of cigar tobacco and of the air-dried tobacco used in the cigarettes of certain countries, which gives a smoke of less acid pH becoming progressively more alkaline during the course of smoking.
The conditions of smoking in a pipe whereby the smoke from all types of tobacco, with both high and low sugar content, is less acid than that of most cigarettes, and becomes progressively more alkaline during the course of smoking. Since the satisfaction derived from smoking is mainly due to the pharmacological effects of nicotine, it is suggested that the lower lung cancer incidence in cigar and pipe smokers may be related to the fact that nicotine is more readily absorbed in the form of the free base, at alkaline pH, than in the form of a stable salt, at acid pH.
To obtain the same degree of “nicotine satisfaction” as in smoking a pipe or cigar, the smoker of cigarettes giving an acid smoke would tend to smoke more, and to encourage more prolonged and extensive contact of the smoke with the mouth and bronchus, and to take the smoke into his lungs, which would thus suffer greater exposure to the “carcinogenic” effects of the smoke than would be the case with cigar or pipe smokers.
In preliminary attempts to devise a “safer” cigarette, the addition of substances which give rise to an alkaline vapour at the usual temperature of combustion of cigarettes has been shown to reverse the character of the smoke of high sugar (flue cured) tobacco cigarettes so that it then resembles that of cigars and pipes in becoming progressively more alkaline during the course of smoking.








Why Government should Banned Advertisement on Tobacco?

Effective advertising influences prospective customers to try advertised products. We won’t deny that sometimes advertising influences primary demand, creating demand for entire product category.
More frequently, advertising attempts to build secondary demand, the demand for a company’s brand such as Benson & Hedges, Salem etc. Advertisements with reasoned and emotional appeals for trying one brand versus another.
Banned advertisement should not advertise on TV because it will keep a company’s product fresh in customer’s memory.  When a needs to smoke arises that is related to the advertised product, the influence of past advertisement make it possible for advertiser’s product to come to the customer’s mind and purchase a box of cigarettes as a purchase candidate.
Tobacco is known to be addictive and it causes several different types of health problems. Although it is a legal product that consumers can choose to use and buy, it should in no way be made to look glamorous or appealing, especially to the underage population.


Recommendation:
  1. Government should create more awareness to the public to avoid tobacco. Ministry of Health should aggressively implement health awareness campaign to remind the public the effect of smoke cigarette, the target people such as teenagers, students must get involve directly in this campaign.  
2.    The federal government should substantially raise federal tobacco excise taxes. Federal excise taxes should be indexed to inflation.

  1. States and localities should enact complete bans on smoking in all nonresidential indoor locations, including workplaces, malls, restaurants, and bars. States should not preempt local governments from enacting bans more restrictive than the state ban.
3. Advertising is Untruthful and Deceptive – On Culture and Religion Issue.
Advertising is the most effective tool for promoting products through mass media but sometimes there are lots of unethical issues which failed the former objective of the advertising. This not only a waste as the advertising need a lots of hard work and budget to complete the task, but it also brings a bad reputation and image for the brand.
We have found this TV3 Hari Raya 2010- Sinari Lebaran advertising is untruthful and deceptive which they deemed to be not sensitive to Malaysian Muslim people with the advertising is too westernized, unIslamic and having some of Satanic elements in the advertising. This leaded to misunderstanding to the muslim lifestyle and Islam religion. Most of the scene are not brings up the real muslim lifestyle and Islam teaching.
Lots of Malaysian muslims are not happy on this kind of advertising at the moment and it brings offensive to Malaysian muslims that leads millions of them vent their anger and frustration at the TV3 website. This 60 second advertisement with all together 16 scenes have been scrutinized on the symbolism of every part of the advertisement.

Scene 1
A little malay boy (symbolic to malay people) was seen fiddling with pages of his picture book (symbolic to a bible) in an old atap roof house (symbolic to poverty which suffered by most of Muslim) with only a light bulb (symbolic to illumination by Satan [Lucifer]) to illuminate his dark night (symbolic to a very poor barren Islam). There was a bird cage (symbolizes the entrapment of human in Islamic teaching) hanging just outside the old, ruined house beside the window (open window symbolic to a doorway to exit from poverty).
Scene 2
In this scene, the boy flipped over the page which there are Jawi scripts which was inverted (symbolic to Al-Quran was being insulated) and in the new page there where illustrate a picture (symbolic to Bible [Christianity]) of a red trishaw (beca) (akin to Santa Clause’s ledge), a Chrismas tree (Paganism) and the Northern stars (the birth star of Horus [Egyptian Deity]).
Scene 3
In this scene, the emergence of glimmering stars (symbolic to magic, luxury and modernity) from the red trishaw. The little boy is obviously very happy and excited with what he is seeing. These glimmering stars flew out of the window out from the old ruined house and transform in to a red trishaw complete with those blinking lights. Then an old man with snow white hair (symbolic to Pope the leader of the worldwide catholic church) who is wearing a white songkok. Then this old folk invited the little boy to hitch a ride on his red trishaw (symbolic to invitation to join Christianity) and leave that old worn out house.
      

Scene 4
The little malay boy (symbolic to the Malays in the country) is seen slacking on the trishaw with another Malay girl it is claimed that this scene shows that the Malay has been successfully defeated or ridiculed by the others.
Scene 5
The red trishaw flew over to Penang bridge (the place where Illuminati was first established in Malaya), Teluk Intan (Perak) (there is an Illuminatilodge here) and Kuala Lumpur (KLCC is teh capital of headquarter of Illuminati). It is argued that these 3 destinations are the beginning of the so called “illumination” by the “Illuminaty”. The landmarks in these 3 places were glowing when the trishaw flew passed them.




Scene 6
Out of the sudden, another pair of little Malay boy and Malay girl joined them by hopping onto the red trishaw. They are portrayed to join the earlier pair to join the Christianity. Inclusion of the new little Malay boy and Malay girl symbolic to apostasy of Islam (Murtad) is getting more widespread and it is welcomed.


Scene 7
The red trishaw stopped in front of a luxurious, modern-looking condominium (symbolic to depict the middle class or upper class of community) unit. Then another pair of Malay Children from this condominium joined them. When the pair of kids from Condominium hopped onto the red trishaw, it shows that the "city" people have already begun to accept the boy from village. In other words, this simple scene here is claimed to show that by converting to Christianity, you will look cool and will be accepted by everyone.


Scene 9
The red trishaw flew over the clouds heading towards a mountainous place (the place where genies and spirits dwell). Then a majestic mosque can be seen on the right. Instead of admiring the mosque, the kids were more attracted to the scenery below the trishaw. The ignored mosque it shows how weak Islam is.

Scene 10
The "sick" Malay children started running once they alighted from the red trishaw. Then these kids were seen pointing their fingers at the mosque (they are showing disrespect to Islam) which was located so far away. Then there was this mysterious building (it is believed that it is a Church that separates the Malay kids from the mosque (Islam)) which was in between the mosque and the children. If you look closely you will notice a deep trench that separates the mosque and the mysterious building (it depicts that it is difficult for Muslims to be pious).
Scene 11
The children were seen running through the bushes to an enlighten place (the place which was illuminated (by Christianity)) full of hovering lamps.

Scene 12
The old man with snowy white hair is looking up at the sky and he was smiling. This shows that the old man has accomplished his mission to persuade the Malay children to abandon Islam. Then he looked at the sky and was laughing at Allah for he has defeated Him.

Scene 13
In this scene, lotus can be seen anywhere. From hovering lotus to huge lotus which were used to stir "dodol". There were also "lights" in those lotuses (shows that the Muslims has started to embrace Buddhism). This scene was supposed to project that 1Malaysia theme but it backfired.


There are many untruthful and deceptive advertising made by the marketers in order to present favourable information about their brands and showing that their brands are an advantage in highly competitive markets. Unfortunately, as they are too excited in attracting the audience, they are leaking on their awareness to target market sensitivity. Audience can be offended by the advertisement in many ways.
This banned TV3 Hari Raya commercial is trying to adopt and project the 1Malaysia concept as promoted by our PM but its irritated the muslims people as the advertisement are too extreme in order to bring out the 1Malaysia concept and mixed all the religion in one time. This is a reminder to us as marketers that we need to be more awareness on the target audience sensitivity and should be more careful.

















4. FAST FOOD ADVERTISMENTS
  
  
  
   



In a move to help encourage its multi racial society to condone a healthy lifestyle, the Malaysian government has issued an immediate directive that all advertisements for fast foods are to be stopped with immediate effect.
Malaysia’s popular local media “The New Straits Times” recently highlighted this government action in the wake of its prioritized concern over the alarming decline of the population’s health, with the consumption of fast food products being the main suspecting factor of this uprising calamity. The possibility of banning such advertisements is seriously being considered, where the Health Ministry is already mulling over such a proposal to the Cabinet.
With a view to silencing this “menace” from further escalating to greater heights, the Information Ministry has ordered its prime broadcaster, Radio Television Malaysia Berhad (RTM) to halt fast food advertisements from being aired on television. The Minister of Information believed that such a move would definitely boost the practice of a healthy lifestyle in the Malaysian society.
The trend of the fast food industry nowadays is to link their products with entertainment, especially with movie and cartoon characters. Brand-name foods and drinks such as    McDonald’s and Coca-Cola appear on toy cars and helicopters; fast-food chains promote “educational” games and “scratch-and-win” contests. Although wary of the risks such advertisements have on the consumer at large, advertising agencies and their clients were already exercising “self-control” on fast food advertising, such as not targeting children aged below seven.  
The Information Minister further added that if studies showed that fast food would adversely affect the people's health, immediate action would then be taken to protect the public. It was added that although the trend now was that fast food had become part and parcel of people's lifestyle, they should not use it as a way out or a symbol of modern living. As Malaysians, they have many options so as not to make fast food a staple diet. The Malaysian Information Ministry also made it clear that besides fast food produced by large companies and those under franchise, the authorities would also have to monitor and enforce laws on the use of fast-food ingredients that could be detrimental to health and of those that were produced by small companies and unregistered businesses, to ensure that they comply with the permissible standards.
This is because of the emergence of various “instant” local delicacies in the local consumption market such as sandwiches, curry puffs and other confectionary items, to name a few, that contain preservatives to make the food tastier and last longer, which could be harmful to health. The banning of advertising of fast food products or “the silent killer”, aptly described by the Malaysian Health Ministry was primarily motivated by the increasing number of Malaysians suffering from “affluent” diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension causes and the critical rise in obesity among children and adults.
A statistical report provided by Weight Management Information Centre revealed that one in every five adult Malaysians is either overweight or obese. Generally, a person who is more than 20 percent above the maximum healthy body weight is considered obese. In Malaysia, the percentage of adult women who are obese is considerably higher (7.9 percent) than men (4.7 percent). Presumably many more are overweight. Although our figures on obesity are good compared with Australian or American women (13.2 and 41 per cent respectively), it is worse than Thailand, Philippines, Japan and China.
The Health Minister also added that the move would also cover endorsements of events linked to fast food. To further support the stand, a fast food “sin tax” is also being pondered. Stressing upon the fact that advertising for cigarettes and liquor are not allowed in Malaysia, he also advocated for the same treatment to be exercised on fast food advertisements. This move came as a surprise to several companies and operators of fast food outlets, as revenue from fast food advertising on TV, newspapers and billboards approximately totaled over RM100mil annually.  
Although the Information Ministry was aware that this issue would have a significant impact on the advertising industry in the country, based on the figures above, they added that the people's health is very important and if not protected, the quality of health will drop and the government has to spend millions of Malaysian Ringgit (RM) to tackle the problem.
The Health Ministry is also looking at the possibility of using RTM as a channel to create awareness to the society of the dangers posed by this “unassuming catastrophe” by organizing talk shows by health and nutritional experts to inform and explain to the public on the adverse effects of such food and its contents on people's health. Perhaps banning such advertisements is a way of reminding the fast food companies of their obligation to the health of Malaysians, and is a cost effective way of combating the health risks it poses.
However, banning fast food advertisements may not be the complete solution to bad eating habits, according to dieticians. The National Heart Institute Dietetics and Food Services as well as the Malaysian Dietitians’ Association said educating the public on right eating habits might be the better option. Probably the large public outcry would make the Government review its proposal to ban fast food advertisements. In the alternative it would be a better option to regulate the controls on the ingredients and other related food substances that can arguably cause this calamity as well as alarm the public on the ill effects of consuming fast food.
Here, we have citizens and consumers concerned about harmful food substances like “trans fats” but:
  • The Health Ministry and Health Promotion Board do not think the problem is serious to warrant any strong action.
  • Radio and television stations are all private corporations driven by profits, so with drawing advertisements for the sake of social responsibility is probably out of the question.
  • Medical bodies like the Singapore Heart Foundation support the government’s position that there is no need for firm action (the one thing we have in common with Malaysia is that, well, the medical associations support the government).
  • The Consumers Association of Singapore says and does next to nothing on such issues. And we just found on in the Lianhe Zaobao report on Sunday that Case actually conducted a study on “trans fats” in 2004, but decided not to release the report as the government did not air the issue at that time.

  • Because according to the minister of health in Malaysia (Dr. Chua Soi Lek), many Malaysians are now obese and it is caused mainly from the consumption of fast food. Therefore there are more advertisements put up on eating, living and staying healthy. Banning fast food advertisements can also help prevent children from wanting more of fast food. .

 

Campaign Intentions

Advertising campaigns for fast food restaurants have changed in their intent over time. Many modern campaigns stress the availability of healthy options after years of criticism for the harmful effects of a fast food diet. The rise in awareness of healthy eating and obesity has negatively impacted the business of these establishments, and their marketing campaigns have attempted to rectify this.

Target Audience

Most fast food restaurants target their advertising at children and students- an important market for them. McDonald's Happy Meals are one example, which includes a toy often tied in with a newly-released children's film. Ronald McDonald, first introduced in 1963, is a clown-like advertising mascot designed to appeal to young children. From 1996, Disney was an exclusive partner with McDonald's, linking their products together. They announced the end of this deal in May 2006, with some reports saying that Disney was worried about childhood obesity. McDonald's has since been in talks with rival animation studios.
More recently, chains like Carl's Jr. and Burger King (see Burger King advertising) have directed advertising towards a different demographic – young teenage and college-age men – with trendy, often sexualized, imagery and messages that target men's supposed desire for large, meat-filled burgers and rich, satisfying food.

Sponsorship

·         Sport

Several international fast food companies have sponsored sporting events, teams and leagues. McDonald's is one of the largest sponsors, having affiliations with the NHL, Olympic Games, and the FIFA World Cup. Several companies, including McDonald's, Burger King and Pizza Hut, have a history of sponsoring NASCAR teams.

·         Television

Some fast food companies sponsor television programmers. Domino's Pizza have sponsored Sky One's screenings of The Simpsons in the UK for many years (But reported because of new regulation on advertising that the deal may end). In 2005 Pizza Hut sponsored the same programmed when it was shown on Channel 4 – the Sky/Domino's deal continued.

Regulation and Criticism

One of the main areas of regulation facing fast food companies is the advertising of "junk food" to children. In the United Kingdom, the Children's Food Bill is intended to highly regulate the advertising of such food aimed at children, and many other countries are looking to introduce strict limitations on fast food advertising. Talks between the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the fast food companies were initiated to work together in an effort to improve children's diets, though Burger King withdrew from the discussions.
Some organizations have called for the watershed to apply to various unhealthy foods, including fast food. In June 2006, the FSA called for laws to prevent such food from being advertised on television before 9pm. They also called for the disassociation of television and film characters from fast food and stopping celebrities from appearing in such advertisements. The impact of such campaigns is often denied by the fast food companies and the television networks that carry their advertisements. Some networks have also said that tighter regulations would reduce advertising income and that would have a negative impact on the quality of children's programming. In Sweden all advertising aimed at the under-12s is banned, including fast food adverts.
Recommendation:
1.    Government should create more awareness to the public about the unhealthy food for kids. Ministry of Health should aggressively implement health awareness campaign to remind the public the effect of eat fast food, the target people such as teenagers, students must get involve directly in this campaign.  

2.    Parents should serve as positive role models for their children and limit their own as well as their children on television viewing.

3.    "Parents need to listen to the AAP guidelines which say, 'Limit your child to less than two hours of media time per day, keep the TV set and Internet out of the bedroom and avoid screen time in kids under two.

4.    "Limiting advertisements would be a positive step toward improving children's health," "Young children can't distinguish between ads and programs."




















5. Gambling Advertisements
 
    




The position of Islam on gambling is that it is prohibited, harmful and destructive to society. Gambling is addictive by nature, a practice that takes money from the poor with the perceived, yet illusive promise that they may “win" something without having to work for it. Gambling is mentioned in the Quran alongside drinking alcohol as an abomination, a sin, and a grave harm to mankind.

Gambling is believed to lead the gamblers towards crime. The addiction gets on to them to such an extent that they fail in thinking wisely before acting due to which they might land up in worse situations. They may take wrong decisions in life. People who fall prey to gambling tend to drift away from their families and waste money on other bad practices. The treatment of such addicts again needs money. There is a lot of expenditure on curing the addicted gamblers of society.

When gamblers indulge into excessive gambling activities, they tend to spend time and money at the expense of their jobs and time with family and friends. They tend to stay away from their near ones, resulting in distrust between them and their loved ones. People are seen taking to gambling as a way to run away for their problems, stress, anger and loneliness. Gamblers often exhibit mood swings and a strangely secretive behavior. They run behind gambling without the thought that gambling is actually inviting more problems in their life. Their unquenchable thirst of profits makes them continue wanting more. They start borrowing money and taking secret loans to bet money. In spite of the losses they face, they continue betting. Their addiction to gambling can leave them in bankruptcy.

Many people who gamble excessively have mixed feelings about gambling. They know they are causing problems for the people they love. They may become anxious and unhappy, and often hate themselves. But the urge to gamble seems too great to resist. They feel they can’t give up on all the time, money and emotion they have put into gambling. They can’t accept that they will never win back what they have lost. Some people still believe their system will pay off, their luck will change or they are due to win. Others believe that continuing to gamble is the only way out of a situation they are ashamed about.
Other people promise to quit, but can’t. They fear their loved ones will find them out. This drives them deeper into hiding and further into debt. They keep hoping a big win will end their problems. Once in a while they may win, which keeps their hope alive until the losses mount up again. If they quit now, they will feel like a loser.

Impact on Families
Gambling problems hurt families in many ways:
Money problems: When family members learn that savings, property or belongings have been lost, it can make them feel scared, angry and betrayed.
Emotional problems and isolation: Gambling problems causes strong feelings among family members, which make it harder to solve problems. Many partners of those with gambling problems do not want to be emotionally or physically close with the person who has hurt them. Family members may avoid other people, because they feel ashamed. This makes it hard to get love and support.
Physical and mental health: The stress of gambling problems sometimes causes health problems, for both the person who gambles and the family. This can include anxiety, depression and stress-related problems such as poor sleep, ulcers, bowel problems, headaches and muscle pains.
Burnout: Many families under stress have trouble coping. One member may try to keep things in control by taking on more tasks. This can lead to burnout. Family members often forget to take care of themselves or to have fun.
Impact on children: When a parent or caregiver has a gambling problem, children can feel forgotten, depressed and angry. They may believe they caused the problem and that if they are good, the problem will stop. Children may believe they must take sides between their parents. They may stop trusting a parent who makes promises he or she doesn't keep. Some children may try to draw attention away from the parent with the gambling problem by misbehaving. They can be affected by family dynamics such as stress and conflict.  Some common responses children may develop as a consequence of problem gambling include: Loss of trust as a result of lies, secrets and broken promises. They feeling depressed - children can feel powerless to deal with the problem and may blame themselves for the behavior. They feeling anxious - children may feel scared of losing a parent due to separation or divorce.
Physical and emotional abuse: Family violence is more common when families are in crisis. Gambling problems can lead to physical or emotional abuse of a partner, elder parent or child.
Rates of suicide are higher for people who gamble excessively, and for their family members. The people most likely to attempt suicide are those who also have mental health problems (like depression) or who heavily use alcohol or other drugs
The Quran makes it clear that prosperity does not come through gambling. Gambling can causes families to break, societies to suffer, and the economy to deteriorate. It leads to addictions, depleted individual and family resources, and creates a false economy and superficial jobs that add nothing to the local or national gross product. It also promotes the notion that man may take that for which he has not earned or worked, which violates the ethical foundation of any decent society.

How to Overcome Gambling Problem
Dealing with Gambling Addiction:

Gambling may start off as a recreation or occasional hobby for some, but for others can lead to financial devastation, broken relationships and lost jobs. Gambling addiction is a form of abuse that should be treated as any other type of addiction, including depression, eating disorders, drug abuse or alcohol abuse.
Most gambling addictions are known as compulsive behaviors and involve difficulty in controlling impulses. Even when an individual knows that gambling will hurt their finances, their job security, and even the future financial security of their family, they can't seem to stop themselves.
Some of the most common signs of a gambling addiction include:
Ø  Inability to control gambling
Ø  Hiding gambling
Ø  Gambling when you don't have the money
Ø  Increased concern by friends and family

Gambling incorporates a large range of compulsive gambling behaviors that may include but is not limited to:
Ø  Horse racing
Ø  Casino gambling
Ø  Sports betting
Ø  Stocks and bonds and futures commodities
Ø  Speculative investments

Gambling Addiction Treatment Options

Individuals preoccupied and controlled by gambling may seek a variety of treatments that deal with gambling addiction.  Addiction treatment facilities and clinics around the globe treat a variety of addiction problems, including gambling through any or a combination of several avenues, including:
Ø  Cognitive or behavioral therapy
Ø  Rational emotive therapy (RET)
Ø  Counseling
Group support (such as Gamblers Anonymous, a 12 step recovery program similar to that engaged by alcoholics) Inpatient or Outpatient addiction clinics or facilities.
Addiction therapies focus on providing psychological and psychiatric support for the gambler, determining what led to the gambling, thoughts regarding gambling while it occurs, and the type of behaviors displayed by the individual, as well as consequences of gambling.
Several types of gambling addiction treatments utilize holistic approaches to treatment that take into consideration body, mind, and spirit. Detoxification or avoidance therapies are often utilized to help individuals overcome their compulsions and desires to gamble.
One-on-one counseling sessions, educational and therapy group meetings in inpatient and outpatient settings offer emotional support for gamblers, while inpatient facilities often focus on lifestyle changes necessary to attain and maintain a quality recovery. Stays in such facilities are usually a minimum of 30 days.
Gambling therapies and treatments often focus on non-blaming or non-judgmental therapy programs that help individuals accept and overcome denial phases and recognize their addiction while at the same time receiving guidance and acceptance from therapists, positive family support and understanding.
















CONCLUSION

Nevertheless, not all products on advertisements are fake or harmful. Cooperates and companies nowadays needs advertisement in order to survive in fierce competition. These kinds of advertisement should not be banned; otherwise huge impact would affect the business and commercial world. Beside there are other forms of advertising that we call public-interest advertisement, aims in broadcasting healthy concept in helping to make a better world, such as protecting environment or eliminating discriminations. Never should any advertisement in this form be banned but they should even be encouraged.
 It is the duty of governments and media organizations to establish such a system to make sure that customers are the beneficiaries of the advertising, rather than being the victims. To conclude, not all forms of advertising should be banned, and those which have a positive influence to the society should be preserved.
Although advertising in digital media is increasing rapidly, this does not means that mass media advertising is unimportant or in the threat of extinction. The point instead communication methods must receive careful consideration before mass media advertising is automatically assumed to be the solution.  Especially advertisements for banned products, we should control because TV advertisement is direct mass media channel that is closed to public.
On customers view, they are not only passively receive ads messages, but they are active participation in creating messages via consumer generated media such as those noted immediately on internet ads. Marketing media ads, should aware that younger consumers who were born and raised in the digital era can actively acquire information message about the brands and products they favor rather than depend on the passive receipt of unwanted information received at inopportune times.
Malaysia is a multiracial society. In that respect, we are unique, The Malaysian concept seeks to strengthen relationship and cooperation among the multi-ethnic people in this country as the main instrument and taking to consideration the sensitivity of the advertisements to their peoples. This concept, if applied by all concerned, is also able to turn Malaysia into a more peaceful, well-grounded and progressive nation.

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