“Vodafone Connected Families Campaign” case study

1. Introduction
With the advancement in technology, many families today have found it hard to maintain and
keep their family ties together. Due to the changing dynamics of the world, everyone is busy
creating a life for himself and this creates a gap that is widening day in and day out, Vodafone
saw the need to intervene and tried to offer a solution for the families to continue being
connected, safe and even updated and more informed than before. However, by doing so, the
Vodafone Connected Families" campaign in Greece brings about notable ethical concerns which
will be analyzed thoroughly in this paper.
1.1 What are the issues?
As a student with a major in communication, I’m passionate about everything that revolves
around the advertising industry, I have always researched every advertising campaign that gets
into my way and always focused my every move on pinpointing every campaign's societal
impacts. Through this knowledge and experience, I am always focused on promoting needed
standards in the media industry.
" Everything that glitters is not gold” Imagine feeling that you are in the right place only to find
out that what you see is not what you hear and a firm happens to have put in place a harmful
representation of family dynamics, created potential reinforcement of stereotypes which hurt
vulnerable audiences. This isn’t imaginary as many could take; it’s a matter that needs
immediate attention. Vodafone Connected Families campaign depicts ethical issues that society
should be protected from, failure to do so means that many people will be affected by the
campaign hence negatively changing the lives of many.
Ethical issues.
Despite the campaign's reach, Vodafone's "Connected Families" campaign gives a wrong
representation of family dynamics hence creating unreal pictures of actual family experiences.
Also, the campaign brings about an exaggerated version of family life which creates a dangerous
and unreal environment that if not carefully handled may lead to confusion or create unrealistic
family expectations from time to time. According to a study in Singapore, exposure to idealized
family images can affect viewers’ emotional and psychological responses (Chua & Chang,
2016). Idealistic information presented through social media has increased social comparison
norms, the more time people spend on social media, the more likely they would believe that
others have better lives and are happier and more successful hence reducing their self-esteem
(Stapleton et al., 2017). The campaign mostly touches on traditional family roles, hence if not
handled well can lead to the demeaning of common families that exist in our communities.
Vulnerable audiences are affected by the campaign aspect of monitoring and collecting data
without their consent. The campaign happens to raise concerns among the elderly and the
children since most of these people lack the knowledge to know the importance of creating
strong ties or even identify the importance of monitoring. The Vodafone connected families
campaign may lead to the isolation of vulnerable groups who feel uncomfortable with the
campaign hence people may end up turning away from their esteemed family structures.
1. “Vodafone connected Families Campaign”; A Media Ethics Approach
2.1 Application of the Utilitarian Theory
Utilitarianism is one of the most powerful and persuasive approaches to normative ethics in the
history of philosophy. The theory was introduced by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. The
theory supports that “the consequences of actions are important in deciding whether they are
ethical” (Patterson & Wilkins, 2014, p.10). According to this theory, Everyone's happiness
counts the same. When one maximizes the good, it is the good that is impartially considered.
Any action is justifiable, should it benefit the greatest number of people. One thing to note is that
the theory is a form of consequentialism: the right action is understood entirely in terms of the
consequences produced. What distinguishes utilitarianism from egoism has to do with the scope
of the relevant consequences. On the utilitarian view one ought to maximize the overall good —
that is, consider the good of others as well as one's own good (Patterson & Wilkins, 2014, p.13).
When the theory is applied to our identified case study, the campaign aim of creating stronger
family ties can lead to better and regular family communication. Increased communication will
create a close family relationship hence a family free from disputes will be discovered, Close
family ties are characterized by increased happiness among the family members thus society's
overall well-being is improved. Despite the positives, the campaign is characterized by some
negatives which include family privacy intrusion practices because of the constant monitoring
aspect associated with the theory which can easily cause mistrust among the family who may
unravel the hidden truth.
If the Utilitarian theory is applied in this case study, it seems at first that it is ethical to use
anachronistic stereotypes because a very important cause is promoted, that will help a great
number of people. It doesn’t matter if a part of the population acts negatively toward it because
“in utilitarian theory, no one’s happiness is any more valuable than anyone else’s, and not more
valuable than everyone’s” (Patterson & Wilkins, 2014, p.13).
Therefore, it is safe to conclude that even though the campaign has the potential to help a great
number of people, it has also the potential to harm a great number of people.
2.2 Application of Kant’s Categorical Imperative
Immanuel Kant developed a theory, which is called Categorical Imperative and according to it,
“it is in the act itself, rather than the person who acts, where moral force resides” (Patterson &
Wilkins, 2014, p.10). This theory is expressed in two ways; the first is that people should never
be used as a means to end and the second is that every person should act as if his or her action
could become universal law. The name Categorical Imperative suggests that these two demands
are “universal and not subject to situational factors” (Patterson & Wilkins, 2014, p.9).
As opposed to the Utilitarian theory, Kant’s Categorical Imperative suggests that in determining
whether an action is moral, the consequences are irrelevant. Therefore, it is not the outcome of
the campaign that will be examined, but the act of infringing people’s privacy to get what you
desire.
The “Vodafone connected Families Campaign” campaign fails to fulfill the two demands that
were expressed above. Therefore, according to Kant’s Categorical Imperative, the act of using
the audience’s information without their consent is unethical.
2.3 Application of the TARES test
The TARES test is “a checklist of questions that the creators of every persuasive message should
ask themselves to determine the ethical worthiness of the message” (Patterson & Wilkins, 2014,
p.56). It consists of five key principles: Truthfulness, Authenticity, Respect, Equity, and Social
Responsibility. The “Vodafone Connected Families Campaign” case study will be examined
using the Truthfulness, Respect, and Social Responsibility principles.
The campaign ought to give error-free information on the kind of services they are giving to the
people. However, in our case, the campaign seems to give so much on its positives but fails to
show how families' privacy issues are going to be affected over time. The campaign needs to
show people how they collect data and use the data collected to build people's trust. According to
philosopher Sissela Bok, deception causes violence to society and its members (Baker &
Martinson, 2001). This is evident if one thinks about the negative effects that the constant
exposure to sexism has on women (Peters et al., 2015).
It is important to determine whether the campaign treats the people with respect. Any firm
indulging in advertising needs to respect its audience. Anything that is against its audiences
should be avoided for example collecting people’s data without their consent. The principle of
respect simply means that “no professional persuasion effort is justified if it demonstrates
disrespect for those to whom it is directed” (Baker & Martinson, 2001).
Finally, the last question that needs to be asked is if the “Vodafone connected families”
campaign is socially responsible. According to Baker and Martinson (2001) the persuaders that
follow this principle would not promote causes or ideas that they know to be harmful to society
and/ or to individuals. Persuaders need to consider the public good. This should not be confused
with Utilitarianism which suggests that an act is morally good if it benefits the greatest number
of people. An ad or a campaign is socially responsible if some groups in the society would
benefit from that campaign, without harming other groups in the society. As was explained in
Chapter 2.1, even though the campaign is for a good cause, it harms a big part of society.
Therefore, the campaign ought to encourage good usage of technology as well as the negatives
associated with family dynamics. By failing the three out of five principals of the TARS test it is
concluded that the campaign is not ethically worthy.
2.4 Application of virtue ethics
Aristotle's Virtue Ethics is one of the theories that primarily focuses more on the character of a
person rather than any specific action done by an individual. It is aimed at creating leverage
between extremes and promoting virtues such as courage, fairness, compassion, and honesty.
When applied to our case study, any advertising firm ought to be transparent and honest about
the kind of services it’s giving the people. The case study campaign needs to timely
communicate the importance of family close ties and data monitoring aspects involved in the
process. Any honest dealings when handling advertising businesses of any kind builds trust
among the people. Also, any advertising firm needs to take into consideration the psychological
and emotional impacts of any laid campaigns on families. Compassionate advertising creates
stronger ties between people. Advertisers need to ensure that vulnerable groups of persons are
not affected by what they ought to make public. They should always be fair in everything they
make public, this is because fairness in a community promotes an environment where all the
people feel a sense of belonging and feel their rights are protected and respected.

Conclusion
In conclusion, I believe that the “Vodafone Connected Families Campaign” should never have
been allowed to be advertised since it does not seem to meet the TARES test, and the campaign's
negatives outweigh its positives. The privacy of the audience is at stake. I request everyone to
champion protecting and supporting every ethical advertising standard out there to create a
healthier and safer environment for all. Let’s be alert and never accept advertising companies to
infringe our rights and take away our most valuable gifts that life has given us. Let’s call for
ethical advertising in our communities/nation to protect and keep our homes safe and respected.
Everyone deserves a better life free from any injustices brought about by unrestricted ethical
issues.

References
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