Lecture Five

The good, the bad and the ugly.

This lecture dealt with 'ethical' vs 'in-good-taste' in the media. 

eth·ics

  

plural noun

1.

(used with a singular or plural verb) a system of moralprinciples: the ethics of a culture.

2.

the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particularclass of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc.:medical ethics; Christian ethics.

3.

moral principles, as of an individual: His ethics forbadebetrayal of a confidence.

Retrieved from: www.dictionary.com

• His Holiness the Dalai Lama's public talk "Secular Ethics, Human Values and Society" given at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles, California, USA, on May 3rd. 2011. (www.dalailama.com). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_TwSx0520

• Dilbert cartoon about ethics. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WTkltRfphM

taste·ful

adjective

having, displaying, or in accordance with good taste: tasteful clothing; a tasteful room.

Retrieved from: www.dictionary.com


This lecture we were greeted by a guest speaker who gave out chart handouts, in which we had to mark where we thought each ad belonged. We had to decide whether the ad was made ethically or in-good-taste, and how ethical/unethical vs tasteful/distasteful the ad would be deemed in today's society. The chart was as follows: 

I'd have to say, the more interactive lectures make sitting down for an hour (especially for someone like me with a very small attention span) more bearable and pass faster. I guess I never really thought about comparing ethics with in-good-taste when it comes to media and this lecture changed that. It also made me question how much you could actually get away with in advertising and how different people react to this material.