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CCTP-625-01 Marketing, Advertising and Public Policy
Fall only
This is an inter-disciplinary graduate level course designed to provide students with a solid overview of current themes in marketing, advertising and public policy.
The course examines the impact of public policy on commercial marketing and advertising practices in today’s new media environment. We review the role of government in the regulation and limitation of marketing and advertising, particularly the roles and rulings of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on contemporary marketing issues. The course also examines the First Amendment as it applies to commercial speech and its evolving interpretation by the U.S. Supreme Court. Finally, the course takes a critical look at the policy implications of several marketing and advertising practices including: marketing to children and youth; marketing of so-called “vice” products such as alcohol, tobacco and gambling; the use and collection of personal information and consumer data for targeted and social marketing purposes; behavioral targeting and consumer privacy; and embedded advertising, branded content, product placement and advertising transparency in online and offline media.
Organization
In the first half of the course, we study the basic federal laws that govern the marketing and advertising of commercial products. We review the role and authority of the federal government, including Congress, the courts, the FTC and the FCC. We look at the major court rulings on the First Amendment and commercial speech. We also review issues relating to self-regulation of marketing and advertising.
In the second half of the course, we look at the business of commercial marketing and advertising in today’s multimedia environment. Our examination will include several marketing and advertising campaigns involving selected categories, including consumer goods, food, children and youth products, prescription drugs, beer and alcohol, and emerging trends in online and offline marketing such as product placements, advergaming, sponsored content and social media.
This review raises a number of public and social policy issues that will be focused on throughout the course, namely: marketing and advertising ethics; the right of Americans to keep their private data away from marketers; responsible marketing of so-called “sin” products (such as tobacco, alcohol, and gambling); Internet advertising, and the relationship between marketing, advertising and media.
Finally, the course critically examines the effect of marketing and advertising on society. Among the themes we explore: marketing as a reflection or a determinant of popular culture; the proliferation and intrusiveness of commercial messages, and the cultural implications of media images. We finish with an analysis of whether marketers owe a duty of corporate social responsibility to consumers and society, or do they have the right to market anything to anyone, anywhere at anytime, as long as it’s legal?
Grading and Requirements
The course is divided almost evenly into 50% lecture and 50% seminar format. I also will bring in two or more guest speakers who are involved in the creation, production or regulation of broadcast advertisements. Taken together, the lectures, class discussion and guest speakers will provide students with a sound overview of the major public policy issues involved in commercial marketing and advertising.
The final grade will be determined by class participation and a final research paper on a topic to be selected by the student and approved by the professor. Students are expected to attend and participate actively in class.
Text and Reading Materials
Watch This, Listen Up, Click Here: Inside the 300 Billion Dollar Business Behind the Media You Constantly Consume, David Verklin, Bernice Kanner, John Wiley & Sons, 2007.
The Future of Advertising: New Approaches to the Attention Economy, A Report of the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program, by Richard Adler (Rapporteur), The Aspen Institute, Washington, DC, 1997.
The First Amendment and the Media—2003: Free Speech and Free Press Since September 11. Richard T. Kaplar (ed.), The Media Institute, Washington, DC, 2003.
Additional course materials will be adapted from periodicals, journals and online sources and made available to students through the library.
About the Professor
Adonis E. Hoffman, Esq. is Senior Vice President and Counsel for the American Association of Advertising Agencies in Washington, DC and president of the American Business Leadership Institute. He was appointed by the Chairman of the FCC to serve as Deputy Bureau Chief of the Cable (now Media) Bureau and as Senior Counsel for International Telecommunications Policy. He previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives as Counsel for the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Mr. Hoffman was a Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Senior Fellow at the World Policy Institute, and a Distinguished Visitor at the New School University. He is the director of the Center on Responsible Media and Marketing and serves on the First Amendment Advisory Board of The Media Institute and the Board of the Corporate Counsel Institute at Georgetown University Law Center. He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, the U.S. Court of International Trade and the U.S. Supreme Court. Hoffman received an A.B. from Princeton University and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.
Contact
Adonis E. Hoffman, Esq. | Senior Vice President & Counsel
American Association of Advertising Agencies
1203 19th Street NW, Fourth Floor | Washington, DC 20036
202-331-7345 - office / ahoffman@aaaadc.org 703-627-0400 - cell
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: None
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