AdBoard Induction Triggers Moral Discussion

Monday, 21 February 2011 07:10

Written by Resti Reyes. Jr.

Mind Wars was invited to Malacañang last week for the induction of the 2011 set of officers of the AdBoard – the Advertising Board of the Philippines. It is the umbrella organization composed of all the member-associations of the various sectors involved in the advertising industry, an industry that contributed P260 billion to the economy last year (4% of GDP):

1. PANA, the Philippine Association of National Advertisers
2. 4A’s-P, the Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies of the Philippines
3. UPMG, the United Print Media Group
4. OAAP – the Outdoor Advertising Association of the Philippines
5. CAAP – Cinema Advertising Association of the Philippines
6. MORES – Marketing and Opinion Research society of the Philippines
7. ASAP – Advertising Suppliers Association of the Philippines
8. IBA –Independent Blocktimers Association
9. IMMAP – Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines
10. MSAP – Media Specialists Association of the Philippines

(Aside: the only other major organization that is not a member of the AdBoard is the KBP, the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas. The KBP had their induction the night before. Guest of Honor and Inducting Officer was Chief Justice Renato Corona.)

Here's the link:

We do not intend to be the chronicler of this industry organization, but we do want to report on a significant incident during the ceremonies. Induction ceremonies are fairly routine and predictable. What made this one different was that after he had read his prepared speech, His Excellency President Benigno Aquino III, or PNoy as he prefers to be called, went on to speak candidly and spontaneously about what was in his mind. The most significant words were “… when you place your ads in the newspapers and other media, sana hindi lang cost per thousand ang batayan. There should be another criterion: does this newspaper write the truth? Or are they only all about sensationalism? Minsan kasi, the truth and the good news get buried under sensationalism.”

Needless to say, at the end of the ceremonies, the media who were present (i.e., the Malacañang Press Corps) ambushed the newly-installed AdBoard Chairman Andre Kahn and pestered him with questions like, “Will advertisers now use their muscle to twist the arms of the more sensationalist members of the media?” and “Isn’t that considered prior restraint?”

Thanks to presumably more level-headed editors, those questions from the reporters never saw print the next day.

Andre did go so far as to acknowledge that there is some merit to the President’s comments. But the truth is, the advertising industry’s role is to produce advertising, not dictate editorial policy. Ad agencies produce ads, not editorial content.

The incident raises a few other questions. But before we enumerate them, let us recall that President Estrada, during his term, once orchestrated a boycott of the Inquirer by all his friends and supporters among its advertisers – with disastrous results. That piece of history, which most people did not even take notice of, has very deep significance and impact for the advertising industry, for the media, and for freedom of the press. Why? Because advertising is the lifeblood of the media. Without advertising, most mass media entities cannot survive. It’s a very delicate balance: advertisers provide sustenance to the media, and yet they cannot use this power to influence what the media will write or broadcast. Doing so would curtail press freedom.

Viewed another way (and I have been asked this question many times), isn’t this like a chicken-and-egg situation? Is the media there to serve the interests of the advertiser? Or is the advertiser there to serve the interests of the media? If you take the view that, since the only revenue source for the broadcast industry is advertising, then it may look like advertising was created to fund the operations of the broadcast media. Don’t be fooled by appearances. The correct answer of course is: neither one is there to serve the interests of the other. The media’s only role is to be the media: to be conduits for the dissemination of news, information, entertainment, etc. The advertiser comes in after this primary function has already been achieved. In truth, advertisers only come in when a particular media vehicle has proven it is capable of delivering the audience that the advertiser craves, like when a TV show registers high ratings, or a magazine achieves a high circulation level. For its part, the advertiser is not looking for a media vehicle to support – that’s a consequence, not an objective. The decision to advertise comes from the need to promote a product or service – ultimately to make a sale. In fact, when you see an ad in your morning paper, instinctively you know that someone is trying to sell you something. And if you are not in the market for that product, you turn the page.

For those who are old enough to remember, we lost our freedom of the press (among other things) when Martial law was declared on September 21, 1972. And when we won it back 25 years ago as a result of the first EDSA revolution, our press has become once again one of the freest in the world. Understandably, the slightest hint of efforts to muzzle press freedom is met with very violent reactions.

Here are some of the questions and issues raised by this incident:

1. Whose responsibility is it to monitor sensationalism in the media, and how do we discourage it? And if we did, wouldn’t that constitute censorship?
2. Whose responsibility is it to produce quality program and editorial content? The creators of media content… but what if they only get commissioned to produce content that will sell?
3. What happens if they do produce good quality programming and editorial content, and it doesn’t rate? It doesn’t sell?
4. Who defines what is good, quality programming and editorial content?
5. If quality programming and editorial content are not profitable, how do we fund it? If it doesn’t sell, and nobody watches it or reads it, why bother producing it at all?
6. The industry spends more than P20 billion a month. Where does all that money go?
7. Is it the responsibility of the media buyer – the little guy (girl?) whose job it is to spend that P20B every month – to make sure that the money goes to fund the operations of media that produce quality programming and editorial content, and ONLY quality programming and editorial content? How does he/she know that?
8. How is the media buyer going to be equipped with the skills to determine quality programming and editorial content? Whose responsibility is it to train him/her?
9. If that ever happens, what would be the metrics for judging quality content? And who decides that?
10. Is it the responsibility of the advertiser? Who among them? The advertising manager? The brand manager? The marketing director? The CEO?

Don’t you get the feeling there are more questions in this discussion than can ever be answered?

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