Ethical advertising 101
By Angelica Redleaf, DC

Whenever we represent our profession to the public, we are actually advertising. When we do it in such a way that the message we are sending is positive and is one that the majority of our profession would consider appropriate, then our advertising is most likely ethical.

That’s ethical advertising in a nutshell.

The stakes are high when we advertise. That’s because our advertising not only promotes us, it promotes the profession as well.

Each of us is in the position to make claims about ourselves and what we can do to help people. John Kabat-Zinn wrote the book Wherever You Go, There You Are (Hyperion, 1995). That’s the way it is for all chiropractors.

Wherever you go, there you are — a chiropractor! That means that you are an ambassador for our profession. So, as an ambassador, you need to consider the effects your actions — including advertising and marketing — have on others.

When an allopathic physician or a dentist does something inappropriate, unethical or illegal, the reputation of only that individual is tarnished. But if a chiropractor does the same inappropriate thing, the popular press publicizes the act and the entire profession gets a black eye.

When you advertise your services, consider whether what your ad says will be good only for you or if it will also be good for the profession. Creating a win-win for everyone is definitely a better way.

A SELF-EXAMINATION

As you prepare an advertising or marketing campaign, put the project through a self-examination to determine its ethics:

• Does the ad or marketing project make you feel good about yourself?
• Does your advertisement or marketing program put the profession in a good light?
• Would someone in another profession consider what you are doing not only ethical, but appropriate?
• Is your staff comfortable with your proposed ad or marketing campaign?
• Would your patients be proud of the ad or marketing campaign and say with a smile, “That’s my doctor!”
• Does the project or advertisement faithfully represent who you are and what you do?

If you cannot answer “yes” honestly to all of these questions, ethics could be at stake. We see and hear things through our own senses. In my experience, however, our senses sometimes deceive us. They do not always match the perceptions others have.

So, before taking steps to represent yourself or chiropractic to the public, check it out first. An ambassador has that obligation.

Angelica Redleaf, DC, has been in practice in Providence, R.I., since 1978. She is the author of Behind Closed Doors: Gender, Sexuality & Touch in the Doctor/Patient Relationship (1998) and is an instructor on boundary training for ChiroEcoCE.com. She is also a consultant to state licensing boards and individual chiropractors and lectures around the world on the topics of sexual boundaries, ethics and addiction issues.

Dr. Redleaf welcomes questions that may be appropriate to answer in this column. She can be contacted at angelchiro@aol.com.