Truth in Advertising

With my penchant of asking questions, you might not be surprised to know that commercials….or for that matter any advertising, leads my questioning mind on a quest to figure out the truthful part of “Truth In Advertising”.  

Because, I happen to be in sales, I can tell you that I find  the phrase “Truth in Advertising” a bit of an oxymoron.   If advertising was totally truthful, I don’t think it would be good for business.  The ultimate goal of sales is after all, to sell.

As I sell houses…well to be perfectly truthful…when I used to sell houses…. when houses were still selling…there were/are those pesky disclosure laws that I talked about in Tuesday’s post.  

For example: If I show you a house with a flooded basement, I would be forced (imaginary gun to my head) to tell you that the basement leaks.  An inventive, creative agent might try to pass it off as in indoor swimming pool.  More often than not, a real estate  agent that wants to make a sale might tell you that all those old cinder block basements leak and if you put some drainage tile around the foundation, it will be fix. There is a speck of truth in that statement but just a speck.  Basements aren’t supposed to leak.  A lot of them do.  AND, yes they can be fixed if you are prepared to dig up your yard and spend a LOT of money.  I think you might find it cheaper to call it an indoor pool. 

Some other creative “not entirely truthful” but also “not entirely a lie” either.

With my somewhat skeptical view of all that is sales, is it any wonder that I question some of the newest products that seem to have appeared on the horizon.

Lately I am hearing all kinds of advertising concerning rejuvenation products.  It didn’t go undetected by the marketers of the world that all the baby boomers are coming to the point of wanting to look like they did when they were 20 but now have a whole lot more cash than they had back then.

Red Light Therapy

This is the use of LED lights to help your skin produce collagen and according to the ad, it will make you look 10-15 years younger.  WOW…I am totally on board to look 10-15 years younger.  There is a cost to this though.  I am just asking….would a cheap LED light bulb with red cellophane do the trick?  There is about a $350 difference in price.

Cool Sculpting

This therapy is a non-invasive treatment that “freezes” the fat cells, kills them and they disintegrate into the bloodstream or at least that is how I understand it in the commercial.  I am trying to be open minded about this as they say it will reduce fat by 20 percent.  However, I have to question, why is it that I lived in Nebraska for 6 years…that would be 6 winters….cold winters… and my butt got bigger not smaller.  It took me moving to Texas where it is hot to get my fat off. 

Weight Loss Pills

I didn’t put a link here, my blogee friends as I don’t want to point out a specific brand. There might be some cranky lawyer out there that wouldn’t want me being dubious about their miracle pill.

Besides that, there are a lot of brands of these pills that have the warning. IF YOU LOSE MORE THAN 10 POUND IN LESS THAN  10 DAYS, DISCONTINUE USE.  Really?  People are taking these pills and dropping 10 pounds in less than two weeks and there isn’t a stampede for these pills?  Why? 

Stretchy Look-a-Like Denim Jeans

Again, don’t want to call them by name as they are a registered trademark and all… but there is a jean that is out there that claims to fit everyone perfectly, look like designer jeans and so comfy that I will want to sleep in them.   Is this totally the truth???  Will they truly look like designer jeans?   Will they lift my butt as the commercial claims?  If so, where are they lifting it to and are they going to set it down again at some point? Too be clear, I am not saying that these knit jeans aren’t comfy. How could something that is so willing to stretch over our body parts and never question shape or size be a bad thing.  I am suggesting..perhaps…just perhaps, they don’t look quite the same as the designer jeans that would cost mega bucks.

So I continue to question things beyond my understanding but the advertisers continue to try to persuade me to not ask questions and just buy their product.

You must admit, that some advertisers are pretty clever.

Now here is one that is a great example of “Truth in Advertising”.



I know I have used this video another time but there seems to not be a ton of songs about sales. 

Read more at The Art of Being Conflicted