Is advertising a way of tricking people to spend their money?

Answer 1

Without advertising people would seldom hear of a FEW good products out there and the manufacturer of the product wouldn't be able to stay in business long without the consumer buying it so competition is high and advertising has to be at it's peek. Some companies of products will lie, cheat and sell their own mothers to sell their products, while other companies are honest and just want to get their product on the market. It's up to each individual to research it out. I don't buy big ticket items without doing my homework first and I know that if I join a certain gym I'm not going to have a number ten body of a 20 year old, but I'll certainly look better because I'll be in good physical shape. Here are examples of cheap and dishonest products:

• A certain product will make thinning hair on a man/woman's head start growing. (Only implanting of hair works thus far and selling products to grow hair has been going on since the early 1800s.)
• If you buy certain gym equipment you can look like the young men and women advertising them on the TV and they are paid to say that you too can basically look like them. Generally these people work out on a constant basis and some are even body builders. The advertising is legal because it's not really doing any harm and you may just get a few muscles and get into shape.
• Medications sold on TV are a great threat. It amazes me they will actually advertise the product, but then list the side effects and people still buy this garbage. One for higher libido, more energy, more youthful appearance, lose up to 20 pounds or more, etc. These medications can be dangerous!
• While many of the industries and the FDA are warning about obesity in Americans and Canadians they will advertise some very tantalizing food products of people chowing down on lobster with lots of garlic butter, etc., or a big, fat hamburger with chips. Some are smart enough to join the 'health conscious' and add a little ditty that their food is much better for you, but in reality it is probably full of more chemicals, more fats, sugars or sweets.
• Cosmetic companies on TV (every single one) has come up with the magic potion in their facial creams (now body creams) that will turn back the clock for especially women and now men are being sucked into this core. The creams will work to a point, but only because the person is more diligent about looking after their skin than they were before. Especially women don't want wrinkles and spend billions of dollars on cosmetics. If you really are alert look at the actors who are helping to sell some of these cosmetics. They are actors that haven't been in the movie business for quite sometime and they are paid royalties everytime that ad comes on TV.
• The worst one is the Propaganda of scaring society half to death about their children or themselves if they don't stop eating this or that and suddenly one day drinking coffee can cause cancer and six months down the road you hear that it's good for the heart and doesn't cause cancer. They have no proper testing and if you feed any rat enough of almost anything it will die and it's called overload! When companies do this they are playing mind games and want to direct you into another area where you will buy a more expensive product. Example: They may tell you that eating fat, salt, or sugar (3 main ingredients hidden in most foods to make sales) are bad for you and offer pre packaged foods that are loaded with chemicals that WILL harm you. Certain diet companies will sell frozen dinners and women should have 3 1/2 ounces of protein at each meal and men should have 6 - 8 1/2 ounces of protein at each meal, but, look at the package! If there is one ounce of meat in that meal it would be a good surprise to me. You'll see a huge man sitting over a frozen dinner and that's suppose to take his hunger away; these ads are a laugh. I could eat that and still feel hungry!
• Dog foods are another hype and one should read all labels before buying. The only way you will ever truly know if your pet is eating healthy is by making your own food. I've given up on canned foods and that dehydrated dried mess they call foods and make up dog food with either rice or barley, carrots, peas, lean ground beef or chicken, organic chicken or beef stock. I feed them organic chew bones for good healthy teeth. Then I know what my pets are getting.
• The one that infuriates me the most is where the mother is racing around spraying every toy her child has touched with a disinfectant. The chemicals in that disinfectant are more harmful to her child than letting the bacteria on the child's skin normally stave off germs. I grew up playing in the dirt and sharing pop with friends or letting them have a lick of my ice cream (even my dog got a lick) and my brother is 58 and I'm 65 so there's proof! My mom didn't go around becoming hysterical over germs. The best disinfectant is good old bleach and it's cheap!

I could go on and on about advertising and most of it is a lie or not worth the air time, but, every so often there is a product that is good. One just has to use their common sense. If you buy a product and it doesn't do what it says then return it and demand your money back even if you have to go to management!