The Effects of False Advertising

Final muster The Effects of False advertise Since the evolution of communication, media has been used to transmit selective informationrmations to those unstrained to absorb it. Now, using powerful technologies such as television receiver or the internet, information has been made accessible to muckle in e precise picture of our daily lives, distorting now to influence our choices more than ever before through ad. However, for the to the highest degree, the stopping transmit behind publicizing is personal profit.Therefore, the things we argon receptive to in advertisements ar not lay offlessly true they oftentimes unravel to make wad try being someone elses idea of nonpareil while ignoring their own goals, and then conduct the consumers to deception. As for whateverthing else, regulations on advertize do exist and are set by the Federal mass committal. except if even-tempered, the puzzle of deceptive advertising does exist and is very persistent.My goal is to discuss the problem of deceptive advertising, by analyzing the strengths and the weaknesses of the FTC policies on advertising, the causes and centers of the problem and finally propose eventual solutions. Part I According to its authoritative web site, ftc. gov, The FTC deals with issues that touch the economic life of every Ameri crapper. It is the only national agency with both consumer protection and competition jurisdiction in bountiful sectors of the economy, (About the Federal Trade Commission) advertising included.As any inception of this scale, the FTC has very strong policies regarding the field it deals with. And acts such as false advertising can be heavily punished by the law, according to the FTCs many laws and acts. However, regardless the numerous regulations that make the FTCs strengths, it possesses a major weakness, since as far as the commission punishes cheating(prenominal) methods in advertising, and it fails to intelligibly define the word unfai r. William F.Brown says in his article that the term unfair methods remains a generalization that the FTC must translate into usable policies, or amounts by which specific methods can be judged (the Federal Trade Commission and False Advertising II). More specifically, its not always edify what would be included within the scope of the commissions authority. This I would rather qualify unexisting part of the FTC policy, creates a gaping kettle of fish through which the problem of false advertising slips out.And I can rightfully down where this problem might apply We can always evisce ordinate out or hear from commercials all the benefits of a product, but, usually all the hateful grimace effects are every written in very small caps at the bottom, so that no one can see or practically said at the speed of light, making them incomprehensible. From my consumer point of view, I can say that these are unfair methods however, I can hardly see how the FTC is going to punish such an act, because in fact, everything intimately the product is there regardless how the information is delivered.Part II Along with the FTC policy problem, there are more causes linked to the false advertising problem. For starter, I can tell from personal observations that America is a highly hawkish country with a very capitalist nature. So much that in order to sell its products, companies testament not hesitate to lie. For example, I still dont know which phone companys net profit is Americas fastest, especially when most claim to be (ATT, Verizon, and t-mobile are really getting me confused. Then there is also the multitude brain that is problematic. By that, I mean people tend to respond to purport rather than reason a commercial full of fallacies, for example, will get customers to buy a product simply by being entertaining. I believe that peoples response to advertisements in America is unalike because of the way they are implemented. For every 10 minutes of a televis ion ground, there are 5 minutes of advertisement it break ups a 1/3 ratio, meaning that more than 30% of what people see on television are commercials.Even on radio stations and all everyplace the internet there are commercials. What Im saying is that everywhere time, people stop noticing them, plus they become boring (think about how often you skip channels when an ad is on), thats when marketers, in need of wise ways to keep consumers attention on a product, use humor, entertainment, or make some commercials so stupid that they are rarely unnoticeable. Also, individual desperately in need of change in his life is most likely to consider any possible option, even the most irrational.I will take the specific case of all over the counter weight personnel casualty products, which has a huge market value at the moment slightly 100 billion dollars and expected to quadruple by 2015 (Money dog-tired On Weight-Loss Programs in America Today). A study from joke Cawley (Cornell U niversity), Rosemary Avery (Cornel University) and Matthew Eisenberg (Carnegie Mellon University) issueed that as of 2008, 68% of the American adult population was intemperate, 33% obese, and that out of the majority of those trying to lose weight, 33. 9% had used over the counter weight loss products.The same study also showed that their give out is increasing because weight loss products are very loosely adjust and consider a history of little efficacy and dangerous side effects (The Effects of Advertising and Deceptive Advertising on economic consumption). One cause to that is They are treated like food. Therefore, they are interchange in supermarkets and pharmacies as tumesce as through the internet without any need for manufacturers to prove benefits from the product, and bearing responsibilities for showing safety before marketing (food is assumed to be safe).It is then up to other governmental institutions to reveal the product to be unsafe. As a result, manufacturer s of weight loss products have considerable slack in the marketing of these products. But truth is, they are very ineffective and can have severe side effects. nearly of the weight loss products contain components such as phenylpropanolamine and ephedra, which have been identify by the FDA as increasing risks of stroke and cardiac events, as well as caffeine like products that increase the heart rate to give the impression of a faster metabolism.One big case was involving Redux, a drug that was designed for obese individuals, but had many people, including doctors, who were slightly overweight experience pulmonary hypertension, valvular heart disease, and neurotoxicity. Even without being an practised on this topic, I can accurately say that its unthinkable to lose weight without doing any kind of exercise so the get out these products can is ease the weight loss process. And as a result of fact, if they were really working we would already see decreases in the overweight rate in the population.Unfortunately, not everybody understands the facts about advertising certain products, and people end up falling into deception by using a troop of them, ultimately affecting themselves as individuals and the population as a whole. In a long run I can hold it liable for phenomena like emotional conflicts, because, in addition to lies, some advertising programs show a distorted design of reality which often become peoples new standard. For those influenced deeper, physical and mental problems occur, including bulimia, anorexia, the employment of harmful dietary plans, low self esteem, or thoughts of suicide.Unless the truth is revealed, some will insure to suffer. To my opinion, consumers could find products more attractive advertisements were done by normal people or without all the extra mind blowers. Other side effect to deceptive advertising is that continuously deceived consumers can actually turn their cover version to some product, and give negative fee dback to their entourage. In some cases, it gets so cock-a-hoop that there are some(prenominal) individual law suits against a individual(a) company.Such mistrust into local products can go as far as bringing the economy down, especially if people decide to stop get things of the same kind. Plus, manufacturing products that are not going to be consumed by a majority of the population is a waste of resources. Part III But like for every problem, there are a few solutions, or at least ways to lessen it. I believe the FTC postulate to create a clear definition of the term unfair methods in its policy, so that every questionable, literally or implicitly false advertisement will be subject to revision, especially for those that can have an contact on health.In addition to this, if the public could try viewing advertising only as something to get ones attention, and recognize the commercials playing on peoples insecurities, as well as those using humor and entertainment over facts t o sell a product (According to the article The Use Of Humor To feign Deceptive Advertising in The journal of Advertising, The content analysis of 238 droll ads showed that 73. 5% of them had deceptive claims and 74. 5% of these claims were masked by humor).Until either is accomplished, the negative effects of deceptive advertising will be felt by the vulnerable, people, and companies will still make profit. Conclusion Overall, its clear to see that the practice of false advertising is very persisting and influences several aspects of our live, either by getting people to by ineffective products then fall into deception or sometimes setting new standard in society by showing a distorted image of reality or beauty.However, I believe there is no better wall to this problem than self-defense. By that, I mean it is up to the people to truly open their mind and rely more on reason, to try finding and understanding more facts about the products on the market, so that their actions towar d a product define new standards for manufacturers instead of the other way around. cast Cited About the Federal Trade Commission. Federal Trade Commission June 17, 2010Ftc. gov April 18 2011. Electronic. Brown, William F. The Federal Trade Commission and False Advertising II The Journal of Marketing (1 July1947) 38-46. April 18, 2011. Print. Cawley, John, Rosemary Avery, and Matthew Eisenberg. The Effects of Advertising and Deceptive Advertising on Consumption. Economics Seminar Papers (30 July 2010) 3-11. Electronic. Mialon, Hugo M. and Paul H. Rubin. Economics, Law, and Individual Rights. 2008 New York Taylor & Francis Routledge, 2008. Electronic. Money fatigued on Weight Loss Programs in The USA Today. Worldometers Information 2009. Worldometers. info April 18 2011. Electronic. Mundy, Alicia. Weight-loss Wars. U. S. News & World Report 15 February 1999, Vol. 126, Issue 6 42. April 18, 2011. Electronic. Shabbir, Haseeb and Des Thwaites. The Use of Humor to Mask Deceptive Adv ertising. Journal of Advertising Summer 2007, Vol. 36 Issue 2 75-85. April 18, 2011. Electronic. What Is False Advertising? Astra, Chan, Gurst, and doubting Thomas P. C 2006,Aboutfalseadvertising. com. April 18, 2011. Electronic.