Have you ever realized how important the truth in advertising is? You might think advertisements are just there to take up time between your favorite TV shows, so you could rush off to the bathroom or to get a quick snack, or to take up space in magazines and newspapers. But really, have you ever wondered what these ads are for? A way to persuade you to buy their products, or in other words they want your money. The truth of advertising is actually very important.
Each advertisement has a message. Sometimes the message is clear, other times the message is left for the person to find out for themselves. One thing that really annoys me is the difference with what you see in the ads and what you actually get in the shops, as you might have seen on TV, ads that advertise Mc Donald's Burger King and other fast food restaurants show delicious looking burgers with perfectly cooked burger buns filled with juicy beef patties, fresh crunchy lettuce, tomatoes and creamy mayo in between. Everything that you could possibly imagine to make a perfect burger. But really when you order, and hope to get one of those burgers you saw in the ad, you actually get the opposite, squashed and cold, a burger with paper thin patties, measly lettuce and everything that you could possibly imagine finding in an alley bin.
The problem with advertising, for example, the huge range of beauty products and fat free foods put there simply to tempt you to buy one so you can look like a model of your dreams. You might think that buying these overly priced products will make you look as beautiful as Paris Hilton or as handsome as Brad Pitt. Get slim overnight, get a suntan without even trying. These are designed simply to remind us that our bodies aren't as perfect as the models that invade our television screens, nobody is perfect in this world and that is what makes everyone different. The only thing is that their marketing scheme works. It causes people to crave being as beautiful as possible.
The Federal Trade Commission Act states that: Advertising must be truthful and non-deceptive, advertisers must have proof to back up their claims and advertisements cannot be unfair. This literally means retailers are not allowed to lie in their advertisements. So what are the consequences of false advertising? Fines or maybe jail time, the Federal Trade Commission Act has very strict laws on advertising. An advertisement is considered false or misleading if the public are likely to be deceived. For example, In the year 2007GlaxoSmitKline the Ribena-Maker was fined after admitting they had misled consumers about the amount of vitamin C in the Ribena Product. College students now 18 decided to test the vitamin C levels in their favorite juices. Ribena claimed their product called ready to drink Ribena had four times the amount of Vitamin C of oranges. The girls found that there was really no detectable vitamin C content. This led to a large fine of $217,500.
So how do you feel about advertising now?
