Dodge's Use Of Weasel Words In Advertising

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Have you ever been tricked by an ad? If you have you are not alone. Many ads today, including many older ones, sell their products by tricking their readers into thinking they have something special when in reality they don’t. They do so by using words that are easy to twist and turn to mean different things or that mean something different depending on whoever reads it. These types of words are commonly referred to as weasel words. Most of the time things like this are harmless, but sometimes they can end up making someone who does not have a lot of money spend what they have on something that doesn't do what they think it will. Dodge’s ad about their 1971 Challenger depicts the car parked in what looks like a football field. The Challenger’s …show more content…

In some scenarios though, these weasel words could mean that a buyer who doesn’t have a lot of money and hasn't looked into the car before spending money on it could waste their life savings. The ad goes into detail about how comfortable the cars are, yet it does not compare it to anything and it uses weasel words to describe it. By doing this the car could be one of the most uncomfortable cars made and the statement would still be true. While using these words for a car are not as bad as something you would order through an ad or online, they are still not words that should be used by a company that wants to keep a trustworthy name. The words Dodge uses to sell their product are subtle enough to where many people won't see what they are doing. Even though these words are subtle, they can still easily throw off the reader of the ad by making them think that they need to get a Dodge to fit in cause they “Can't afford to not be Dodge material”. This ad mainly appeals to the younger audience because of the setting around the car. The car is parked in a way that makes it look meaner and more aggressive than what it most likely is. The reason that more complex and sneakier weasel words are not used in this is because of the younger crowd it is targeted at. The younger crowd will usually not look too into things before they do them, meaning that they’ll just see the car, the good things that are being

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