Advertising, an annoyance the average American deals with every single day. Advertising is “1 tr. to promote (goods or services) publically to increase sales. 2 tr. To make generally known” (The Oxford 14). By definition alone, it doesn’t sound so bad: bringing information to the public, sharing products, etc… Yet when money comes into the equation, things go crazy. Advertisers will say almost anything to sell their products and get ahold of that elusive green paper. False advertising is the siren that catches many foolish sailors… So in that case, it’s probably best to assess what you’re buying in a coherent, thought out manner.
False advertising has been a problem since America began, a slippery fish that the government tries to get ahold of. But one of the problems with pinning down this particular hindrance is that it’s hard to define. There are two main deceivers that an advertiser can use where its trademark is concerned. A trademark is “a word, name, or symbol that a seller uses “to distinguish … [its] goods… from those manufactured or sold by others” (Dillbary 331).
First off the name of the product itself can be misleading. For example, using “the mark “Simply Stevia” in connection with a sweetener that is not made from the plant Stevia. In such a case, the seller is engaging in outright fraud- the name of the product (its trademark) explicitly suggest that the product possesses an ingredient (i.e., an extract from the plant stevia) that it does not” (Dillbary 328). How is this harmful, you may ask. Well, is not the title of the product the initial conveyer of information? Don’t the trademarks “chocolate delight” or “beef jerky” immediately tell you what you’re buying? Most people do not look much farther than the name o...
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...bert, David Vollrath, and Mark Fox. "Tests Of Deceptive Advertising Used By The Federal Trade Commission With An Application To Alternative Medicine." Contemporary Readings In Law & Social Justice 4.1 (2012): 11-24. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 Dec. 2013.
Larson, Joseph A. "Taming The Wild West: An Examination of Private Student Loan Consolidation Companies' Violations of § 43(A) of the Lanham Act by Using Trade Names and Logos That Closely Resemble Those Used by The United States Department of Education. (Cover Story)." Creighton Law Review 41.3 (2008): 515-573. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 Dec. 2013.
Meisterernst, Andreas. "A New Benchmark For Misleading Advertising." European Food & Feed Law Review 8.2 (2013): 91-96. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 Dec. 2013.
The Oxford New Desk Dictionary and Thesaurus. 3rd ed. New York: Berkley Pub Group, 2009. Print.
This Further Oral Activity will be presented in a T.V. show format (Based on the show “The Gruen Transfer”), with the host focusing on the false advertising of well-known health foods and drinks. This FOA will focus on the persuasive language and manipulative strategies used by businesses to influence and mislead consumers into believing false perceptions of their product, using case examples to support the evidence presented. The purpose of this FOA to inform the audience on the plethora of manipulative and persuasive language used in advertising from ‘supposedly’ healthy products, while the target audience is Australian T.V. viewers 18-50 who are interested in the influence of advertising. The context of the piece is based on today’s
The Onion’s mock press release markets a product called MagnaSoles. By formulating a mock advertisement a situation is created where The Onion can criticize modern day advertising. Furthermore, they can go as far as to highlight the lucrative statements that are made by advertisements that seduce consumers to believe in the “science” behind their product and make a purchase. The Onion uses a satirical and humorous tone compiled with made up scientific diction to highlight the manner in which consumers believe anything that is told to them and how powerful companies have become through their words whether true or false.
Simpson, J. A., and E. S. C. Weiner. The Oxford English dictionary. 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press; 1989.Print.
Ventola, C. Lee. “Direct-to-Consumer Advertising Therapeutic or Toxic?” Pharmacy & Therapeutics. October 2011. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3278148/#b5-ptj3610669. Web. 5 April 2014.
Direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising refers to one of the marketing strategies in a pharmaceutical industry. As pharmaceutical products directly affect people's lives and health, many industrialized countries ban DTC advertisements; the United States and New Zealand are the only industrialized countries that allow DTC advertising of prescription medicines. However, there is a controversy over whether DTC advertising, as one of the most effective forms of mass communication, should be more regulated than it is now. This debate is ongoing. This research argument, however, contends that people need stronger regulations against many DTC advertisements in the pharmaceutical industry because they are usually manipulative and misleading to people.
people in the corporate world,” inferring that researchers are not sent around the world in search of innovative products. If Ramona easily found this on the internet, Next Step is likely practicing false advertising. Dillon states, “In many industries, false comparative advertising is still common. Companies therefore need to remain vigilant in monitoring the development of this legal field so that they can readily identify competitor false advertising.” According to Dillon, false advertising is harmful to a company as it has the potential to damage their reputation and lose goodwill among its customers (2015). This should also damage the credibility of the company in the eyes of potential employees similar to Ramona. She will remember when the recruiter laughed at the false claims that she obtained through little research, which damaged some credibility she had of the organization.
Pearsall, J. (ed) 1999, The Concise Oxford Dictionary, Oxford University Press, New York, p. 1209.
is showed on television, or any other source of media for that matter. Advertising a product
Companies nowadays are using different and strong methods in marketing their food products. The Companies are very competitive, and the results can affect the people. When we think about this job field, it is convincing that those producers should use cleverly ways to gain their own living. In the other side they shouldn’t use misleading ways that could harm the people. Food companies should be straightforward with every marketing method they use. People have the right to know what they are consuming and also to know the effects of these products on them, whether it is harmful, useful, or even neutral.
"Oxford English Dictionary." Search Results - Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Web. 19 Mar. 2011. .
The New International Webster's Pocket Dictionary of the English Language. Naples, FL: Trident International, 2002. Print
Webster’s Desk Dictionary of the English Language. New York: Portland House. 1990. Dictionary. Page 602
We see advertisements all around us. They are on television, in magazines, on the Internet, and plastered up on large billboards everywhere. Ads are nothing new. Many individuals have noticed them all of their lives and have just come to accept them. Advertisers use many subliminal techniques to get the advertisements to work on consumers. Many people don’t realize how effective ads really are. One example is an advertisement for High Definition Television from Samsung. It appears in an issue of Entertainment Weekly, a very popular magazine concerning movies, music, books, and other various media. The magazine would appeal to almost anyone, from a fifteen-year-old movie addict to a sixty-five-year-old soap opera lover. Therefore the ad for the Samsung television will interest a wide array of people. This ad contains many attracting features and uses its words cunningly in order to make its product sound much more exciting and much better than any television would ever be.
Advertising is designed to get information from the companies to the consumers. With that being said, there are several ways in which companies will go about this to ensure that their information is relayed to the consumers effectively and efficiently. According to George N. Root, from Demand Media, “advertising uses misguided promises of desired results to convince customers to purchase a product.” Nancy Day expresses in her book, when there are many of the same products, companies need to convince the public that their product is superior. Which results in an increase in the demand for advertising (7-8). This is when informative advertising turns into manipulative advertising. Root goes on to explain that advertising agencies use manipulative techniques such as “expert” opinion, attractiveness, lifestyle, and fear to control their audience.
In today’s difficult economy who can afford to spend their hard-earned money carelessly? Americans want good quality and low prices, and businesses that advertise their product make saving money possible. Advertising was created for one reason, so businesses could make known their product (Black, Hashimzade, and Myles). Some consumers may argue that advertising is not informative, but that it is manipulative because some advertisements make false claims. Fortunately, there are regulations and consumer rights that promote truth in advertising. Consumers must embrace their rights to keep advertising the way it is meant to be. Advertising is meant to be informative and not manipulative, and consumers play a great role in promoting truth in advertising.