There are hundreds of books that expose the truths about every industry. While there have been movies highlighting the wrongdoings of certain tobacco companies, petrochemical giants and large scale factories in the country, not much is talked about advertising.
Advertising is a world filled with deception. A staggering majority of what you see on television, read in magazines or what is thrust onto you at mobile billboards or by pushy salespeople are all a part of a big lie that companies intentionally propagate to further their causes. Business is all about making money. No one is in the business of losing money, not even some not for profit organizations. They too have their agendas, in most cases.
You don’t need to be an advertising expert or an industry insider to know that what you see in advertisements is far from the reality. A quick glimpse at the images of foods served at Burger King or McDonald’s and a quick visit to the stores to check out what they actually serve will tell you how different they are. From gadgets and gizmos to diet pills or even prescription drugs, everything that is advertised is misleading or at least hyped.
If products or services are hyped and presented as more valuable and effective than what they are, then it would have been acceptable to an extent. For instance, some food products are shown to be very attractive when in reality they are not that appealing to look at. However, they don’t taste bad and they do contain what is labelled. What is not acceptable is advertising something that is not or anything remotely close to what is being presented. For instance, there are diet pills and health foods which are not at all effective. They are futile. This is where deception comes in.
In the associated info-graphic, you shall get to experience the art of deception in advertising. From photo shopped models to tricks of the digital camera, from using unique ways to make products glamorous to advertisements being outright deceptive and completely unacceptable, everything is happening out there, right now and across the world.
Billions of dollars are spent on advertising every year and every other country in the world is no different from the United States in this regard. While a majority of Americans still trust the ads they see, it may be time to introspect, for all and sundry.
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