The chapter "From snake oil to emu oil" was actually really interesting. I am always second quessing information and advertisments and rarely believe anything. The sections on diet pills and beauty aids really hit home with me because my best friend is basically an addict. She buys the most expensive wrinkle creams at 20 years old and all sorts of flashy beauty products that push never ending amazing results. I have to confess that there are times when I wanted to buy a product because of adverstising and sometimes I did. Usually, I just check with people who have used it already. Advertisments are all around us and it is actually pretty cool to take a deeper look at them and realize that amount of deception that they can contain. I was just about to make myslef some tea when I noticed the box. It read :"Now made with even more antioxidants!" I wouldn't have thought twice about that statement if it wasn't for this chapter. I thought: "More antioxidants? How do you add antioxidants to tea? More than when? How much more?" I couldn't stop asking myself questions about the tea. Like I said, I always second guess new wave products, but after this chapter I am even starting to second quess products I use and love. Anyway, I thought that the chapter was a really interesting way to talk about decption. All of the examples were really helpful. Most of the time, I'm a fact checker so this chapter was right up my ally.
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I agree with you for a lot of what you've said - I think we all fall victim to advertisements at one point or another. To be honest, being a consumer is all about deciding in which way advertising affects you - it either convinces you to buy the product, or turns you off and away, towards another 'brand' or solution.
ReplyDeleteI too, am now looking at things more closely from reading this chapter - it's really interesting that you bring up the tea- something that seems totally basic, and [one would assume] majorly constant in it's making and components.
In my blog entry, I talk about how I went through an infomercial phase. They can be very persuasive, in my defense. I am very jealous that you rarely believe advertising techniques. As my Dad continues to tell me, I apparently am very naive when it comes to detecting ad techniques and deception. However, I have begun to-like you-second guess ads and slogans. I think this book really shows how easy language can be manipulated.
ReplyDeleteThe same things hit me as well while reading. I used to be an addict for "the next best thing" that came out on the market. It's so easy to get sucked in to propaganda when you don't know that it is a scam. After reading the first chapter, I also realized how easy it is to get sucked in and now that we're learning about how to find propaganda, we will keep our eyes wide open.
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