Ethical Judgments about Wartime Ads Depicting Combat

Are all modern wartime ads that depict combat judged as ethical? The results of a study conducted during the recent Persian Gulf conflict suggest that the social marketing uses of such ads (e.g., to solicit blood donations) are judged as more ethical than the nonsocial uses of such ads (e.g., to increase news program viewership). Furthermore, greater moral conservativism, greater cultural localism, and stronger belief-in-a-just-world are associated with the belief that the use of such ads to promote network news programs is unethical, although stronger belief-in-a-just-world generally is associated with the belief that the use of such ads is ethical.