Report of the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, par. 2 and par. 3 (2014)

Text of the recommendation

2. Commercial advertising and marketing practices encompass a diversity of tools and methods to sell and promote services or products. Adapting quickly to new technologies, these practices constantly evolve, using both overt and less overt messaging. Recognizing different forms of advertising and clearly distinguishing between commercial advertising and other content is increasingly difficult. The myriad commercial messages people receive on a daily basis is striking, as is large variety of media used in a systematic and integrated way.
3. Commercial advertising and marketing practices have an increasing impact on the cultural and symbolic landscapes we inhabit and more widely on our cultural diversity. Always aiming to sell, this commercial messaging has the potential to deeply influence the philosophical beliefs of people and their aspirations, as well as cultural values and practices, from food consumption models to burial rituals, including tastes and beauty canons.