Deceptive advertising examples

Consider that companies spend billions in advertising trying to get you to purchase their product. Millions are also spent in finding the right words and using spoken and written language differences to their financial benefit. Because they don't do all this for your benefit.

This article is about deceptive advertising examples and household product marketing. And what started this awareness of the levels of deception some companies go through, was when people would come into my soap store and ask if this was natural like The Body Shop? (ummm, pardon me?) I finally had to go to their website where I read about some of the misleading ads and the terms that The Body Shop, among others, use to deceive you. Enjoy.

"naturally inspired" - Body Shop made a trillion dollars on this deceptive advertising example. It does not mean that their products are natural, it means that something in nature has caused the inspiration for a similar somehow smelling product. This particular advertising phrase is being over-used everywhere, even laundry detergent.

"made fresh" - sure it could be, doesn't mean that it is natural.

"not tested on animals" - well, who besides a major corporation, like Johnson & Johnson, is going to be animal testing. And how can these people actually ensure that any of the ingredients in this product have never ever been tested on an animal. Ingredients come from all over the world, including places not known for their ethics.

"natural" - overused and in misleading ads to the extreme. I make soap, and I know the difference between an essential oil and a chemical fragrance oil, but you'd be surprised how many people lie about this one.

"fair trade" - an important issue and glad to see that it is happening. But the words 'fair trade' don't mean that the finished product is natural.

"natural-based" - gee, really? Body Shop again, natural based does not mean that it is all natural or safe to use. Everything is 'natural-based', even plastic comes from natural crude oil!

"preservative free" - I laugh when I see this advertising on soap products, that even on a bad day would never need a preservative in the first place. And 'preservative free' does not mean 'chemical free' or 'fragrance free' or 'sodium laurel sulphate free' or 'stablizer free' or 'emulsifier free' or 'synthetic free'!

"eco-friendly" - I saw this term being used in reference to a solid not-natural perfume as opposed to a spray. I'm guessing the reference is to the fact that a spray would spray beyond its target and thus get wasted or spread into the surrounding environment. But I see 'eco-friendly' getting overused these days. Even the Governments haven't specifically determined what is or is not 'eco-friendly'.

"vegan" - just means that there should be absolutely no animal products in this item. It doesn't mean that there are no chemicals or synthetics.

"authentic" - means credible or genuine, it certainly does not mean that a product is all natural.

"pure" - even chemicals can be 'pure' chemicals.

"essence" - an attempt at using a form of the word 'essential' when referring to a synthetic scent. Essential oils are the true scent and fragrance oils are the chemicals. But the marketers will use 'essence' in their misleading ads.

"fresh scent of" - just means that the scented chemical smells like the fresh version of something.

"concentrates of" - we understand this word to mean something that has had the excess water removed, like in concentrated juice. And that is one of it's meanings, but it does not mean that the concentrated item is natural.

"extract" - now I do see this word used in reference to natural ingredients, but it is also used unethically as well.

"infusion" - simply means mixed or strained, does not mean that it was mixed or strained with natural ingredients.

"no sodium-lauryl-sulphate" - this is a toxic bubbling agent usually found in shampoos and bubble baths. Not usually found in soap but some companies, large and small, have added it. Yet, this does not mean that other similar bubbling agents are not in your product, it just means that this particular one is not.

"clinically tested" - means that there has been some type of record keeping and observations done in a clinical setting. This does not mean that it had perfect results or that it is natural.

"doctor recommended" - so some doctor somewhere recommended it, it does not mean that it is good for you. Ever had a prescription recommended and written for you that had no side effects?

"hypoallergenic" - this means that of the ingredients in this product, none of them have been deemed to be harsh and cause immediate reactions. This does not mean natural or chemical free or that it causes no allergic reactions.

One of my favorite television ads at the moment is one from Loreal where they are advertising a wrinkle cream. Part of their marketing states "to restore your wrinkles". Now there's a promise they can keep! They are not promising to restore your younger skin, they are offering to 'make new' the wrinkles that you have. (indigo earth note: I see that this commercial is no longer running)

These deceptive advertising examples are, in reality, lies! When an effort is made to use words that are open to interpretation, this is done specifically to lead your thoughts to where the marketers want you to go. Every face cream uses the words "appearance of", or "the look of", because legally they cannot say they can lessen any wrinkles, but they can say they can lessen "the look of" wrinkles. And this is done with chemicals. I aced the english language, but sometimes I still have to read the hype two or three times to see what these misleading ads are trying to not tell me.

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