The Deception of Advertising

These days, advertising is all about convincing consumers of the need to buy a product. We have come to the age of consumerism, where we are constantly bombarded with advertisements of every form.  Companies will stop at nothing when it comes to creating effective advertising, and they have a few key objectives when it comes to advertising:

1. Making people aware of the product
2. changing people's attitudes toward the product
3. telling the consumer about product improvements
4. encouraging people to start buying the product

These points, from Writing for the Mass Media, are the focus of any commercial advertisement. In the PBS program, "The Persuaders," strategist Frank Luntz focuses primarily on the second objective: changing people's attitudes toward the product or idea.

Frank Luntz believes that with the right wording, any idea can be sold. He wrote an article for the Huffington Post on the top 11 words or phrases of 2011 in which he highlighted the power of words. In the article, he gave the top words and phrases used in business, politics, culture, and advertising and briefly mentioned their impact.

In "The Persuaders," Luntz had a focus group in order to develop the correct phrasing for a client of his. He had the group watch a speech by an executive form a power company and turn a dial to the amount they agree or disagree with the statements being made.

This activity revealed to Luntz what statements could get those opposed to still agree with what the power company was saying. When he found the key, he went in to talk to the group and many were visibly upset by the notion that strategic phrasing had caused their opinion to change.

No doubt, these people were feeling deceived. Why shouldn't they? Essentially, their thoughts are being manipulated by the way in which the information is presented. The marketer is spinning the message in order to appeal to a certain group and ultimately gain support, customers, and clients.

The misrepresentation and deception that can come from this idea of word spinning is not something to be taken lightly. Morality and the Christian worldview can quite clearly view this tactic as dishonest and, therefore, wrong.

As Christians it is our duty to be just, so when presented with Luntz's strategy we must reject the dishonesty. Sadly, Luntz has support from many large corporations and even has the support of President Obama.

Our culture is flooded with persuasive advertisements at every corner. How will we combat the deception of advertising? The only thing we can control is what we buy and consume, and consumer reaction is what fuels advertising.

We decide what is advertised and how. It's time for a change to be made; say no to deception and yes to the truth.