Bulletin #5: Staying Ahead in Ethical Advertising

Institute for Advertising Ethics • May 8, 2025

Dear members & partners,


As the advertising world evolves, so do the ethical challenges and opportunities for improvement. We’re sharing some latest news, expert insights, and IAE updates to help you stay informed and lead with integrity.

Industry News

  • Revolve and 3 of their influencers are facing a $50-million lawsuit alleging deceptive influencer practices for not disclosing their brand partnerships. Read more here.
  • UK HealthCare uses a misleading cancer survival narrative in an ad featuring climber Amity Warme raising ethical concerns about authenticity and emotional manipulation in healthcare advertising. Read more here.
  • Marketers must balance effectiveness with ethics when engaging young consumers online, emphasizing the need for transparency, consent, and responsible data practices to build trust and protect youth. Read more here.
  • Transparency, bias mitigation, and human oversight are key for integrating ethical AI practices within marketing agencies to enhance creativity and maintain client trust. Read more here.
  • IBM's AI ethics leader Francesca Rossi emphasizes that engineers must embed ethical considerations early in AI development to ensure responsible and trustworthy systems. Read more here.
  • Healthcare marketers must prioritize ethical data practices, ensuring transparency and patient trust as they navigate increasingly complex digital landscapes. Read more here.

Welcoming Alexandre Callay to the IAE Advisory Council

Alexandre Callay serves as the North America Office Director for RTL AdAlliance, a subsidiary of RTL Group, the leading entertainment company across broadcast, streaming, content, and digital. He spearheads strategic initiatives to expand the global growth of U.S. brands across the EMEA region and the U.S., leveraging RTL Group’s robust portfolio of video solutions and partnerships.

IAE In The News

Joe Mandese at MediaPost spotlights the launch of the IAE's new course: AI Integrity Shield. Read more here.


"The new AI program includes a 90-minute, self-administered series of online education and testing modules, which lead to the granting of a new AI Integrity Shield ad execs can use to show their certification." Read more here.

IAE Blog

The IAE is very excited to be brining you fresh content and exciting updates. Check out our newly launched blog. We are rolling out the Ethics Certified Spotlight highlighting IAE certificants and want to spotlight you too! Please fill out this form if you are interested in being featured.

 

Special Interest Groups led by our very own Advisory Council are coming soon sharing key insights in areas such as Advertising Law, Sustainability, AI & Data Privacy, and many more. Stay tuned!

Check Out The Blog!

AI Ethics Toolkit

The IAE aims to be an insightful resource to help practitioners maintain high standards of integrity in their work. This comprehensive toolkit offers insights into ethical considerations and best practices, addressing key issues like data privacy, algorithmic transparency, fairness, and bias. Whether you're just beginning to explore AI or looking to refine your current strategies, the AI Ethics Toolkit provides valuable guidance to ensure your advertising efforts align with ethical standards.

AI Ethics Toolkit

AI Integrity Shield

AI Shield is your essential course for integrity and transparency in the era of AI-powered advertising. Learn about AI best practices in advertising by enrolling here today!

 

Already CEAE or CEAS certified? You can take the course for FREE! Simply contact us here with the name associated with your badge, and we'll send you an exclusive enrollment link.

Recertification Coming Soon

Many early adopters of IAE certifications are approaching their renewal dates and we are excited to share that recertification courses are on the way! Featuring updated content and fresh topics, these courses will ensure you stay ahead in a rapidly evolving industry.
 
While IAE certifications previously expired every two years, future certifications will now require annual renewal to reflect the fast-changing landscape of advertising best practices. Be on the lookout for more details on recertification, including special pricing and the official launch date. 

Stay Involved

Wondering how you can stay involved with the IAE and the work we're doing?


1. Get Certified: We encourage you to advance your professional development by completing the Certified Ethical Advertising Executive (CEAE) course, AI Integrity Shield course, and our free Green Shield course for greenwash prevention.

2. Stay Connected: Make sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram to stay up-to-date with the IAE as we continue to push the boundaries of ethical advertising.

3.​ Donate: Your generosity powers our mission. Every contribution helps us to raise ethical standards across all aspects of advertising communications. Donate today!


Thank you for championing ethical advertising. Together, we’re shaping a more accountable and trustworthy industry. We’re grateful to have you on this journey!


Best,

The Institute for Advertising Ethics

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Building a Culture of Compliance: From Policy to Practice

By Logan Chrisinske • November 3, 2025
At the Global Ethics Day session hosted by the Institute for Advertising Ethics, legal and communications leaders from Uber, LinkedIn and Ruder Finn joined attorney Jeffrey Greenbaum of Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz to discuss how companies can translate ethical principles into practice. Greenbaum opened by noting that ethical advertising often goes beyond legal compliance. “Even if you communicate truthful information to consumers, but you communicate it in a way that’s misleading, that in and of itself can be false advertising,” he said. Jess Smith, associate general counsel at Uber, said ethics should be embedded in company culture, not just policy. “It’s not just who the brand is — it’s what actions they take out in the world,” she said.

Panel Explores Global Ethical Frameworks Guiding AI and Advertising

By Logan Chrisinske • October 31, 2025
At the Global Ethics Day session hosted by the Institute for Advertising Ethics, panelists explored how ethical frameworks—Western and non-Western alike—shape the future of artificial intelligence and advertising. John C. Havens, a leading AI ethics expert and author, opened the discussion by contrasting Western “dualism” with indigenous and collective ethical traditions. “In the West, binary code—1 and 0—is based on dualism,” he said. “But traditions like Ubuntu ethics remind us, ‘I am because we are.’ When you take the best of Western thinking and apply what it means to be in community, you get the best of both worlds.” Alayna Kennedy, a data scientist and AI governance leader at MasterCard, emphasized the importance of turning abstract ethics into practical systems. “The real challenge is how to make fairness real—how to take a word on a page and turn it into a change in your product that impacts a real person,” she said. She added that MasterCard takes a “risk-based” approach to AI governance, focusing on identifying and mitigating potential harms while enabling innovation.

Experts Debate “Where to Draw the Line” in Advertising Ethics, AI and Authenticity

By Logan Chrisinske • October 31, 2025
At the Global Ethics Day conference, industry leaders and academics explored how artificial intelligence, advertising ethics and authenticity intersect — and where companies should draw the line between innovation and manipulation. Esther Uhalte Cisneros of Google moderated the discussion, joined by Jackie Hernández, CEO of New Majority Ready, and Juan Mundel, associate professor at Michigan State University. Mundel shared new research showing that brands pulling back from diversity, equity and inclusion efforts risk losing consumer trust. “We found that consumers actually feel a breach of ethicality, and that breach hurts purchase intentions — we’re seeing a 20% decline,” he said. “It’s a reminder that academia and industry need to talk more about the data behind these decisions.” Hernández emphasized that ethics in advertising must evolve alongside technology. “Where you’re materially misleading a consumer is where I would see the thinking and the feeling that need to guide brand decisions,” she said.