Death, Taxes, and Deceptive Advertisement

As we discussed commercial speech in class this week, I found our discussions of advertisement, specifically deceptive advertisements, particularly interesting.

I find the relationship between corporations and the consumer for the most part disingenuous. If we have nothing of value to give them, then they don’t care about us. But also, if they have nothing of value to give to us, then we do not care for them either. This is just our nature as humans to act out of self-interest.

Knowing that they want something from me (my money) instantly makes me suspicious of their truthfulness. It is common for us to hear of more and more reasons why we cannot trust corporations and take them for their word.

Karr said, “It is true, of course, that advertising is by no means objective. The speaker clearly has an economic interest in persuading listeners. Advertising is generally a form of advocacy, not purely the description of objective fact”. Advertising being “advocacy” and not “objective fact” is where its nature of deception comes from.

My most recent reason for not trusting advertisements comes from something I just learned about eggs. In the supermarket you will see cartons labeled: cage-free, free-range, and pasture-raised. All those labels put the image in your mind of the chickens who laid those eggs running around freely and living a healthy life right?

It turns out cage-free and free-range are sneaky terms these companies will use to put that idea in your head while they really don’t guarantee that the animals are outdoors roaming freely. For only pasture-raised is that true.

The ever-increasing lack of trust people have in corporations creates a demand in the market for truly authentic companies. This is why small mom and pop shops have become so popular and beloved over the years. There is also a handful of larger companies that have been able to create a loyal customer base because of their authenticity.

This market for authenticity has also brought its share of deception as some companies will make authenticity their brand only to be later exposed as quite the opposite.

It seems to me that no matter what, there will always be deception from companies and advertising. They say nothing in this world is certain but death and taxes. I think it should be changed to nothing in this world is certain but death, taxes, and deceptive advertisement.