A quick search for "false advertising" on Google news uncovers a hotbed of legal controversy surrounding big brands -- more than 50 pages worth for articles published in 2014 alone. Companies like Nestle, Nordstrom and Red Bull have sat under the media spotlight for the misleading claims made in their marketing efforts.
Not only have advertising lawsuits damaged individual brands, but the prevalence of these controversies in mainstream media has left consumers with a sour aftertaste. This negative attitude about the advertising industry perpetuates a multitude of myths. The four most common follow.
1. Advertisers only want to make money
Advertising
is a subset of the marketing industry, which acts as the liason between
businesses and consumers. Profit only constitutes one of the end goals
of advertising, which uses persuasive techniques to make an impact in
various ways. These include:
- Increasing competition between brands
- Increasing demand for products
- Increasing brand awareness
- Distributing important news
2. Advertising is based on lies
The First Amendment protects commercial speech up until the point that it poses a significant risk to consumers. The Federal Trade Commission, which regulates all advertising in the United States, defines this risk in two forms: unfair advertising and deceptive advertising.
Unfair advertising makes claims about a product or service without evidence, such as the claim that a bottled juice drink can cure cancer (The term "snake oil salesman" originated in the late 19th century when newspapers began advertising the Chinese medicine as a magic cure-all).
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| Clark Stanley popularized snake oil as a cure for numerous health problems in the early 1900s. Image courtesy of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. |
Deceptive advertising contains a misrepresentation, omission or other practice that misleads a large number of consumers, such as advertising a product that a business doesn't intend to sell or including fine print that consumers will likely overlook. This type of advertising can be expressed or implied, and even true information can count as deceptive if it leads to false impression.
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| Fast food advertisements are often criticized for deception. Image courtesy of Lab42.com |
The structure of American law leads to a catch-22 in advertising: The luxury of free speech slows down the process of removing misleading advertisements from the public eye. Someone must first file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau against a business' dishonest advertising practices.
3. Advertising sells us things we don't need
The ad industry responds to consumer demand. It aims to inform consumers about a wide range of products and services, from everyday items like toothpaste to the more materialistic -- clothing, cars, cosmetics and so on. Non-commercial advertising aims to sell us ideas in the forms of political campaigns and public service announcements.
Both types play a crucial role in fostering a healthy economy. A 2014 study from the Association of National Advertisers found that "every dollar spent on advertising expenses generates nearly $22 of economic output that would not have otherwise existed."
4. Advertising brainwashes consumers
The concept of advertising as puppetmaster first appeared in the 1950s when market researcher James Vicary experimented with subliminal messaging at drive-in movie theaters. He snuck the phrases "Eat Popcorn" and "Drink Coca-Cola" into the feature film in quick bursts that were "long enough for the subconscious to pick up, but too short for the viewer to be aware of it." The results on audience behavior at first seemed promising, but later were dubbed a hoax. |
| Image courtesy of Business Insideer |
Take a look at this video from YouTube channel Rocketboom for more information on subliminal messaging in ads:
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