The ethics of advertising

Most importantly, advertising is one business activity that religious leaders decry as amoral, economists analyze as capitalist excess, sociologists dismiss as corruptive, and politicians tolerate as a nuisance. Perhaps none of these groups fully appreciates that advertising is an essential force in capitalist markets, the lubricant of competition, the vehicle for the communication of innovation, and the corollary of a fundamental right of all peoples, free speech.

— “Advertising’s Role in Capitalist Markets: What Do We Know and Where Do We Go from Here?” by Gerard J. Tellis