ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we will look at the ethical issues that public relations and advertising have in common. First, we will look at how the Supreme Court views the differences between the two and the way they use their free speech rights. Then, we’ll take a close look at the act of persuasion. It is this communication act that binds public relations and advertising most closely and is also the most ethically problematic. The most frequent complaint against any form of communication is that it is trying to persuade unethically, usually through some form of deception. Both public relations and advertising frequently suffer from this charge. But first, we need to see how public relations and advertising differ before we discuss the ethical issues they have in common.
