LO2 - Be able to plan a cross-media advertising campaign to a client brief.
When creating an advert, it is important to make sure any legal and ethical considerations are considered and corrected to avoid upset and potential lawsuits which could put a bad name on the product and discourage people from purchasing it. For our 'Kind Organics' soap we have considered a number of legal and ethical issues that may arise and dealt with them accordingly.
One legal issue that may occur within our campaign is unfair mascot use. Because our campaign includes the mascots of 4 animals associated with being eco-friendly across all 4 elements, these have been provided from external sources for use within our campaign so the proper usage rights must be gained in order to use them to avoid claims being made against the advertising campaign. To deal with this issue we have found the mascots on a number of sites including ones that are royalty-free meaning the cartoon images are free to be used by anybody without cost or credit to the original artist. We have also gained some cartoon illustrations of our mascots from other artists. To ensure that there is fair use of the mascots we must get an intellectual property release form signed to confirm the artist gives consent for the use of their cartoon.
Another legal issue we must consider is copyright gained for any music or soundtracks used within the youtube advert. If copyright for the music used is not obtained and paid for, the artist can claim the video and take it down or charge large amounts of money for using it unfairly as it breaks the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988. To avoid this, we have decided to use no music within our advert meaning that no laws will be broken and costs will be lowered due to not having to pay for the copyright.
As shown in the storyboard we will be using secondary videos of environmental issues related to the use of palm oil in order to show the way the soap is environmentally friendly and palm-oil free. In order to save costs of travelling to several countries to film the effects of palm oil such as the deforestation of the Amazon, we will be using short clips from other sources. To ensure they are used legally and fairly, we will acquire them from royalty-free sources or get the creator of the content to sign a photography copyright release form to ensure they are payed for the use of their video and that we are legally allowed to use it. Furthermore, as we decided to add a dramatic instrumental into the background of our YouTube advert, this music must be taken from a copyright free source or have a copyright sheet signed over so that it can be used correctly within the advert.
Finally, the last legal issue we must consider is that our brand idea and advertising campaign is not to similar to other eco-friendly brands to ensure we are not copying any of their ideas and that we can not be accused of stealing and sued. To deal with this issue, we will make sure to analyse our campaign ideas against any looked at during the research phase and check that there are no accidental similarities between them. If any do occur, adjustments will be made accordingly.
On the other hand, a number of ethical issues must also be considered. One of these issues is the ethical and gender representation within the YouTube video and other adverts within the campaign. If all actors used within the campaign are of one gender and ethnicity, people may see this as excluding groups from using the product or potential racism leading to upset and people being less likely to purchase the product. To avoid this issue, we are focusing our campaign on mascots and animals rather than people so no people feel excluded. Regarding the YouTube advert, only one actor will be used to avoid issues within representation. This actor will be under 18 so a parental consent form must be signed in order to be able to use them within the advert. A risk assessment must also be carried out prior to filming to avoid injury on the actor during filming to make sure the set is as safe as possible
Another ethical issue that must be considered is how truthful the advert is. The advert must be honest and not exaggerate the benefits of the soap or the issues that it seeks to combat. If the advert campaign is not honest and people investigate this, lawsuits could be made against it and people are less likely to purchase the soap. This is especially important within making sure that the short secondary video clips used within the YouTube advert are specifically related to the key message of the soap having no palm oil. For example, clips of pollution of cars would be unethical to include as the lack of palm oil within the soap has nothing to do with car pollution. Therefore this connotation of the soap's benefit would be untruthful and must not be used The clips used regarding climate change must be specific to the impacts of palm oil and not other causes of climate change.
Finally, the last ethical consideration we must consider for our product is the level of shock within our images. As we aim to target a younger audience within the mascots, the lips used within the YouTube video must not be too gruesome or shocking to the point it causes trauma to younger viewers. For example, upsetting images such as dead animals, blood or killing must try to be avoided to make sure no psychological harm is caused due to the advert which could cause a bad reputation for the soap or even worse consequences.
In conclusion, lots of legal and ethical considerations must be made and dealt with correctly by researching carefully and preparing the correct forms and legal documents to ensure that no harm is caused to the audience or the company.
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