Today, we are surrounded by advertising and announcements in every aspect of our daily lives, from television and radio, to newspapers and social media. Advertising is a fundamental tool in our capitalist gear.
And it is that this is in charge of creating a need in the consumer to buy certain products or services. However, on many occasions, the advertisements Advertisers deceive us using different techniques that lead us to make wrong decisions.
The advertisingpositively focused is an effective way of informing the public about products and services newallowing them to make informed decisions about what they buy or need.
However, advertising also has its downside.. And just today we are going to make a list with the three main negative points of advertising, the three pillars on which advertising deception is based.
How ads fool us
They create false needs
One of the main publicity gimmicks is create a need in the consumer to buy certain products or services. The ads use persuasive techniques to make us believe that we need products or services that are not really essential to our lives.
They make us feel like we constantly need something new to be fashionable, successful or socially accepted. The classic Steve Jobs move selling us the need for the iPhone 15 years ago. That day the CEO of Apple sold us that in order to live in society we needed an iPhone.
In addition, many times the advertisements create an idealized image of the products, showing them in a way that does not correspond to reality. For example, food ads show food as perfect and delicious.but in reality, the food can be very different from what is shown in the advertisements.
Advertisements for cosmetics and personal care products feature models with flawless skin and hair, which can lead people to feel insecure about their appearance. Yes, advertising can be dangerous to people’s health.
Another example of how advertising creates false needs is through fashion. Fashion is constantly changing and advertisements make us feel that we need to be fashionable in order to be socially accepted. However, this is a publicity stunt to making us feel like we need to constantly buy new clothes and keep up with the latest trends.
They use misleading images
Another publicity stunt we’ve touched on briefly before is that of use manipulated images and photographs to display products in a more attractive way of what they really are. The ads use models or actors that do not represent reality, and use image editing techniques to improve the appearance of the product.
For example, ads for cosmetics and personal care products use models with flawless skin and hair, but in reality, this is due to image editing and heavy makeup use.
Food ads also use image editing techniques to enhance the appearance of food, such as using glue instead of milk to create a coffee froth. And what are we going to tell you about the classic image of the Burger King or McDonalds hamburger, that in photo is tremendous and in person it disappoints us all.
make false claims
Another common advertising trick is to make false claims about the products or services being promoted. Advertisements may make exaggerated or simply false claims to entice consumers to buy the product.
For example, advertisements for weight loss products may claim that the product is effective in losing weight without changing diet or exercise, which is false. These ads rely on loopholes to avoid lawsuits, so we can’t believe everything they promise us.
It’s important for consumers to be critical of the claims they see in ads. Before purchasing a product, it is important to do your research and make sure that the information provided in the ad is true.
Fortunately, governments have laws and regulations to protect consumers from false claims in advertisements. In Spain, for example, there is the General Advertising Law, which establishes that advertising must not be misleading and that statements in advertisements must be supported by scientific evidence.
As you can see, when we see an advertisement -especially if it’s online, where regulation is more complicated- we must tread carefully and not believe everything they sell us. It is everyone’s job not to fall into traps and scams. And if something doesn’t smell good to you in an ad, report it.