Truth In Advertising

Whether you like capitalism or not we all have needs. It takes dollars to meet those needs. Beyond these are wants and sometimes the line between the two becomes blurred. Corporations entice us with their commercials. They make their products seem so attractive. They proclaim that we will feel, look and perform better with whatever they hawk. Most intelligent adults know puffery when they see it. We know we are being lied to yet we still give them our hard earned bucks.

Most any car will get us to our destination. Any cereal eaten in the morning will fill us up for a few hours. The majority of products advertised will have the basic effect intended by the manufacturer. Why and how do we determine just whose products we will buy and consume? Some of us are brand loyal. We pick the brands that we are used to or have features we have come to expect. Those who choose something different each time do so for a variety of reasons.

We may go out and buy a product because it is new. A coupon in the Sunday newspaper might have enticed us. Friends often make recommendations as to something they liked. Advertising itself does not always create the want within us. Outside factors as I have stated can be just as powerful. For decades the best commercials on television were the ones that entertained rather than informed. What good are the efforts of big business therefore in getting their products in front of prospective buyers?

It is a given that companies need some way to get the word out as to their latest offerings. The problem that I have is that much of advertising is an insult to our intelligence. Companies know that any real benefit of their product over another is in the mind of the user. We as consumers know better than to fall for the line of bullshit advertisers feed us. Yet companies still market to intangibles like vanity rather than how a product will create a tangible benefit in one's life.

What is worse is when a product presupposes that a particular condition or malady exists. This is especially true for drug manufacturers. As if we, the American public, do not have enough real problems without new ones being invented. Too many products are simply solutions looking for a problem. Is it too much to ask for advertisements to definitively display exactly what good will be done for us? It is as if companies see us as children who must be told fairy tales before we are spoon-fed our medicine.

The television shows we watch must be paid by someone. Advertisers pay for the privilege of marketing to us multiple times per hour. The government has set certain standards by which companies must adhere. Most fine print is so small and repeated so fast that we cannot truly know what we might be in for. Most of what we see pushed between shows is of little value. Entertainment aside we are treated as if we cannot know what is best for us. The best way to protect ourselves is to define exactly what is a need rather than a want. Watch ads with a critical eye and keep your money in your pocket where it belongs.