For reasons unknown, even to myself, I have a philosophy degree. As a full-time marketer, I primarily use my degree to point out logical fallacies I encounter on the internet (silently and to myself), but recently I’ve been thinking a lot about the idea of ethical marketing.
While I occasionally see consumers, creators, or journalists talking about “unethical marketing,” I don’t see much about the ethics of marketing from actual marketers. This is noteworthy, because the internet has provided a slew of new potential ethical pitfalls for marketers.
We have access to previously untold degrees of data. Marketing reach is massive, targeted, and nuanced. Conversations and feedback happen in real time. Ultimately, we have power — and with great power that means we have a responsibility to approach marketing thoughtfully and conscientiously.
But where do we start? First, we need to know what questions to ask.
What is ethics? (And other questions)
I don’t want to brag, but I took Ethics twice. (I dropped it the first time after crying during an oral exam. True story.) Anyway, I went to my first ethics class expecting clear answers — an airtight understanding of what is and is not “ethical.”
In retrospect, this seems a bit naive, I admit … and what I actually got was more questions. Like, way more questions.
Because as it happens, if you’re in the market for a simple, straightforward, widely applicable ethical framework for your life, an ethics class might be the worst place to go.
Ethics is a branch of philosophy that asks some big questions …
Ethics is a branch of philosophy that asks some of life’s biggest questions. Like logic or epistemology, it’s concerned with how we understand the world — but instead of asking “what’s true,” ethics asks “what’s right?”
… with subbranches that ask even more specific questions …
There are some major subbranches of ethics:
Normative ethics
Normative ethics is general, and seeks to answer questions about how people should act. Like, “How do we decide whether an action is moral or not?” and “What frameworks should I follow in order to be a ‘good’ person?”
Applied ethics
Applied ethics is practical and specific, dealing with questions of morality in real-world situations. Applied ethics is concerned with topics like healthcare, the environment, animal welfare, etc. — the best topics to bring up at a family gathering (just kidding).
Metaethics
Metaethics is like ethics, but meta.
And by that I mean it’s the branch of ethics concerned with the nature of morality. Metaethics asks questions like “What is the meaning of ‘goodness’?” or “Are moral judgements relative, or absolute?”
And so on, forever, because philosophers absolutely love that kind of stuff.
There are many schools of ethical thought
Most ethics classes deal with normative ethics. And rather than laying out a simple rubric for judging morality (like I wanted 😤), my professors covered the big branches of ethics, the writings of different philosophers, and the most influential schools of thought.
Schools of thought like:
Virtue ethics
Virtue ethics focuses on personal character. How can you be a good person and live a good life? (Unbothered. Moisturized. Happy. In Your Lane. Focused. Flourishing., etc.)
Deontology
Morality based on objective external principles. Regardless of the consequences (or our motivations), if we follow these rules, then we’re acting morally.
Consequentialism
Morality measured by the outcome of an action. For example, utilitarianism describes a moral action as one that results in the most happiness for the highest number of people.
But studying ethics won’t give you answers
We can’t calculate or prove the validity of an ethical theory. These theories sometimes align, but a lot of times they clash. Most of the time they just raise more questions.
As marketers, we balance persuasion with trust, and business goals with human impact, and the tension and ambiguity of these big questions show up a lot in our roles. But just because ethics is murky doesn’t mean we get to ignore it.
Marketers need to start talking more about ethics
We’ve established that ethics is complicated and mostly devoid of answers (you’re welcome). But marketers still need to talk about it. Why?
Marketing is powerful. It’s not just about driving sales: It’s about creating value for and communicating value to our audience. And because marketing is about value, it has the potential to shape not only buying habits, but culture, beliefs, and behaviors. Marketing can even influence how people see themselves (often without them realizing it).
Digital age marketing is more powerful than ever
Marketers today are operating on a different level. Suddenly, we have:
Massive amounts of data
We know our audience — like, really know them: where they are, what they’re earning, their habits, ideologies, and preferences.
Vast reach
We’re not reliant on billboards and bulletins. We can reach audiences across platforms, communities, and continents.
Real-time feedback loops
We don’t wait to fix something that isn’t working. Analyzing user behaviors allows marketers to test, refine, and retarget constantly.
Machine learning, genAI, and automation
Marketers now have access to tools that can measure, target, automate, generate, alter, and distribute content more accurately and more quickly than ever before.
These advancements raise some big ethical questions
These tools may make marketing more effective, but they also raise ethical questions. For example:
- When does personalization become manipulation?
- Is it okay to track user behavior if users didn’t explicitly consent to it?
- What’s the line between empowering an audience to make informed choices and simply pushing customers towards a conversion?
Plus, the rise of generative AI tools comes with new and specific ethical questions for marketers, like:
- What happens when we let AI create content that mimics human emotion without human judgment?
- What are the environmental impacts of the tools we’re using?
- Are we inadvertently plagiarizing someone else’s work without credit?
These questions (and more) should come up every day as we review data, strategize, build campaigns, design ads, and write copy. But they’re often ignored — not because marketers are unethical, but because we are very, very extremely busy all of the time.
When we’re locked in and focused on outcomes, pausing to reflect on the ethics of our marketing slows us down and opens up a can of worms that can feel insurmountable.
But ignoring these questions doesn’t make the risk go away — it just makes it easier to cause harm without noticing.
Thoughtless marketing erodes consumer trust
If marketers have gotten more savvy, so have our audiences.
Consumers are increasingly skeptical of brands and quick to call out hypocrisy. Trust is hard for brands to earn and even harder to regain. One misstep can tank your reputation (especially when screenshots live forever).
So while considering ethics might seem like overthinking, it’s actually key to effective, sustainable, human-centered (i.e., good) marketing. If we want to build lasting relationships with our audiences, we have to think beyond the clickthrough rate.
Marketing vs. propaganda
One of the reasons I wanted to write this article is the recent “propaganda I’m not falling for” social media trend. If you’re unfamiliar, it’s “predominantly young, female creators sharing lists of things they believe are propaganda … societal norms or marketing tactics they deem misleading, manipulative or problematic.”
Many of the things shared by creators following this trend are satirical, but they raise an important point. Online and on social media, misinformation and disinformation have become increasingly common hurdles to navigate. Internet users are asked to think critically to avoid being swayed by propaganda and unethical marketing daily, and their patience for manipulation is dwindling.
Marketers need to know where the line is between marketing and propaganda — and how to stay on the side that doesn’t leave your customers feeling exploited.
What is propaganda?
Many of us associate the word “propaganda” with over-the-top wartime posters, but the line between marketing and propaganda isn’t as thick as we might like to believe.
Merriam-Webster defines propaganda as “the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person” or “ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one’s cause or to damage an opposing cause.”
In other words, propaganda is strategic communication designed to influence opinion (and behavior) in support of an agenda. Hallmarks of propaganda include cherry picking information, appealing to emotions, and discouraging critical thinking. The goal of propaganda is to persuade, control, and manipulate.
What’s the difference between propaganda and (ethical) marketing?
Like propaganda, marketing is also strategic and also uses storytelling, emotion, and design to drive outcomes. There’s clear overlap — but there are also key differences, namely intent, transparency, and respect.
- Ethical marketing invites an audience to engage and learn more. Propaganda tries to compel an audience to act.
- Ethical marketing informs an audience. Propaganda omits key information to control the narrative.
- Ethical marketing persuades an audience with value propositions. Propaganda seeks to manipulate individual values.
- Ethical marketing prioritizes transparency and trust. Propaganda seeks only to control an outcome.
- Ethical marketing respects audience autonomy. Propaganda seeks to undermine critical thinking and drive people towards one path.
Propaganda-adjacent marketing red flags
The line between marketing and propaganda can get blurry — but what does it look like in the real world?
The most persuasive propaganda isn’t built on outright lies; it’s strategically framed half-truths that guide an audience. Likewise, propaganda-adjacent marketing tactics spin, distort, and obscure reality to drive action in an audience, without considering the impact.
Let’s take a look at the most common propaganda-adjacent marketing tactics.
🚩 Emotional manipulation and fear appeals
Emotion drives action. But when marketers exploit emotions like fear, guilt, or insecurity to override critical thinking and pressure customers to act, things get really icky. One of the most common manipulative marketing tactics is appealing to fear.
Fear-based marketing is common because fear is one of the most powerful emotions (and motivators) that we have. Even FOMO can be used to drive urgency and spending:
For another real-world example: VPN companies often rely heavily on fear in their messaging — because their core value proposition (privacy and protection) isn’t always visible or urgent on its own. So the marketing strategy becomes “make the threat feel real.”
Take this campaign from Surfshark VPN, which compares using an unsecured internet connection to using a toilet on a public street:
The point is valid: Browsing without privacy has risks. But beyond simply raising awareness, the ad is designed to generate feelings of discomfort, embarrassment, and vulnerability.
Or take Mullvad VPN. They describe their advertising as a way to “raise awareness about privacy and create a mass resistance against mass surveillance, data collection and censorship.”
Their campaigns do inform, but Mullvad leans heavily into fear to promote anxiety: “Big data companies,” “ad networks,” “ISPs,” “data brokers,” even “authorities” are watching you. You’re being tracked. You’re being profiled. And unless you act now it’s only going to get worse.
🚩 Loaded language
Loaded terms carry emotional weight beyond their literal meaning, and they’re often used to spark strong reactions or subtly influence perception. Word choice isn’t arbitrary — it’s deeply intentional, which is why you see loaded terms everywhere in politics and journalism. A common example is the choice to describe immigrants as “illegal” instead of “undocumented.” The loaded term frames their status as a criminal act, which drives a particular narrative.
You’ll see this kind of propaganda-adjacent language all the time in the wellness industry, too. How many products claim to “detox” or “remove impurities”? These words imply your body is filled with dangerous substances needing removal. But what toxins? What impurities? How does the product help? The words feel urgent and scientific but lack clarity or evidence.
🚩 Cherry picking or card stacking
One of the oldest tricks in the book, cherry picking is the selective presentation of information that supports your message while conveniently leaving out anything that might contradict it.
Take it a step further, and you’re in card stacking territory: a deliberate rearrangement of facts to sway your audience.
You’re not technically lying … you’re just curating the truth to serve your goal. Think of it like arranging a deck so you always pull the winning hand. All the cards are there — you’ve just stacked them in your favor.
In marketing, this can look like highlighting the one stellar review, showcasing the outlier case study, or spotlighting the data point that supports your narrative. It feels factual and that’s what makes it so persuasive.
People want to trust. So when you leave blanks in your story, your audience will often fill them in with the most generous possible assumptions. For example, I might describe myself as “an award-winning writer,” and you would probably assume I’ve won awards for my writing. But I could just as easily be referring to a trophy I received at a Tae Kwon Do tournament in the ’90s.
This trick is used a lot in advertising, where a brand might say something like “90% of doctors would recommend this product.” The audience doesn’t know how many doctors were polled, who the doctors are, or how they were surveyed. By omitting context, the meaning of the facts can shift.
When you deliberately leave out key information, you’re not just massaging the message — you’re misleading your audience.
How do we make more “ethical” marketing decisions?
Here’s the unfortunate and tricky thing: These tactics work — at least in the short term. You could use them to boost your clicks, conversions, and revenue. But in the long term, you risk eroding trust, spreading misinformation, causing psychological harm to your audience, and making marketing as a whole harder to believe in.
And that bums me out because I’m a marketer! If you give marketing a bad name, you’re giving me a bad name! And no one sullies my good name but me. 😠
So let’s talk about how to do better.
How to make more ethical marketing
There’s no easy checklist for what makes something ethical (if you recall, philosophers have been thinking about it for literally thousands of years and still can’t reach a consensus).
But we can do better by asking better questions.
The TARES test for marketing messaging
If something feels a little off, it’s worth taking the time to ask yourself some gut-check questions. For example:
- Is this message the whole story?
- Is it possible this campaign could manipulate my audience?
- Could anyone be harmed or misled by this message?
You could also use the more robust TARES test, a five-part guide originally developed in 2001 by Sherry Baker and David Martinson aimed at guiding ethical “persuasive communications” (i.e., public relations and advertising). It’s a worthwhile read for conscientious marketers and provides a good set of ethical questions to ask.
Truthfulness (i.e., is this honest or just “not technically a lie”?)
The “T” in TARES stands for Truthfulness (of the message). That means not just factual accuracy, but honesty with intent. Ask yourself:
- Am I downplaying relevant evidence?
- Would someone feel misled if they learned the full story later?
If you’re creating a message that’s “technically true” but still deceptive, it fails the test.
Authenticity (What Would Aristotle Do?)
The “A” in TARES stands for Authenticity (of the persuader). This principle is about you, the marketer. Ask yourself:
- Do I believe in what I’m promoting?
- Would I sign my name on this campaign?
Marketing that comes from a place of integrity is more likely to build trust.
Respect (but not just a little bit)
The “R” in TARES stands for Respect (for the persuadee) and it may be the most important element of the TARES test. Respect, in this context, means never treating the people who make up your audience as a means to an end.
It can be easy to focus on the numbers instead of what the numbers represent. But marketing should help people make informed choices — not pressure them into actions they might regret.
Equity (“Do I have the high ground?”)
The “E” in TARES stands for Equity (of the persuasive appeal).
This principle asks if a message is honest, accessible, and appropriate for the audience — as opposed to taking unfair advantage of power, knowledge, or vulnerability. Ask yourself:
- Do I have access to key information my audience doesn’t?
- Am I targeting vulnerable groups (e.g., children, the elderly, a desperate population)?
Treat your audience as your equals, not as targets, and remember the Golden Rule: “If the roles were reversed, would this still feel OK?”
Social responsibility (we’re all in this thing together)
The “S” in “TARES” stands for Social responsibility (for the common good).
This final principle is probably why you’re driven to ask these ethical questions to begin with. We might be focused on our Q3 KPIs, or whatever, but our work doesn’t exist in a vacuum — it has the potential to make an impact far beyond a campaign’s end.
Even small instances of harmful messaging can add up: Unethical diet industry marketing, especially in the 90s, is a prime example of short-sighted messaging that really messed with many of us long-term, contributing to body dysmorphia, disordered eating, and low self-worth in a whole generation.
Marketers have ethical obligations. Not only to our clients and colleagues but to the communities we operate in and profit from. That means using our platform to build a healthier, more equitable society (not just a more successful quarter).
How to handle being asked to do something that feels unethical
What about when your client or boss is the one calling the shots? When your livelihood is on the line, pushing back can feel really risky. Trust me when I say that I get it.
So if you’re being asked to do something that doesn’t feel quite right, how do you handle it?
Ask questions
Sometimes the intent behind the ask is fine, but the execution or phrasing is off. Other times, the person asking may not have the full context, awareness, or scope that you do. Ask clarifying questions like:
- “Can you tell me more about what we’re trying to accomplish?”
- “What’s the goal behind this messaging?”
The process of getting clarity can help you unpack a weird request, and give you the opportunity to respectfully point out potential issues.
Suggest alternatives
Try offering a different approach that still achieves the goal. It should be acceptable to say something like, “What if we reframed this to emphasize trust over fear?” and then explain why it would be a better approach. It’s always a good idea to come to a conversation with solutions.
Document your concerns
If a request crosses a line for you, especially if you’re being asked to deceive or manipulate, document it. Keep written records of your concerns, emails, and conversations. This can protect you professionally and could lead to bigger discussions on your team.
Know your values and boundaries
Unfortunately, not every company or client will care about ethical marketing — or the harm they might be causing. You can’t control their values, but you can control what you attach your name to.
Only you can decide where your line is. Standing by your values (even when it costs you something) is the definition of integrity.
Keep asking questions
If my philosophy degree taught me anything, it’s that philosophy is not about answering questions.
It’s about thinking about answering questions, and then deciding that the question can’t be answered after all but that we should keep thinking about it anyway.
As such … ethical marketing isn’t about being perfect. It’s about being thoughtful and responsible even when it’s uncomfortable and inconvenient. It’s about asking the hard questions and being honest about our impact.
The good news: The result is winning the long game for your brand and for marketing as an industry. When you prioritize ethical marketing, your brand is rewarded with credibility, trust, and loyalty. And when everyone prioritizes ethical marketing, we all get more receptive and empowered audiences. (We also get less noise, manipulation, and clickbait garbage online, which would be pretty nice.)
And if nothing else, it feels a whole lot better to stand behind work you actually believe in.
Did I get something wrong? Do you have comments or feedback? Do you want to work with Oh Hi? Please contact us!
Thanks for reading!