Marketing is the art of making something desirable into something that you feel you can’t live without. Every product uses images, tag lines, music or other sense-stimulating activities to peak your interest and make you want what they are selling. However, when it comes to the truth about the products it is important that you know what you are getting. Marketing people are very clever and can at times be deceiving. We will talk about a few ways marketing of products may be stretching the truth or playing on similar words.
The first thing we will talk about pertains to foods. What do you think the words “lite” and “light” mean when you see them on a package? The marketers are hoping that you will think that they mean they have less calories or fat. The truth of the matter is that they are talking about the “light” as it pertains to color or flavor or “lite” pertaining to thickness or cut. These are all comparing the product to the original formula. Another stretch on labels is when you see “cholesterol free”. The trick is that only foods that contain animal fats can have cholesterol in them. Most foods that you see advertised as cholesterol free never contained any animal fats so they never contained cholesterol at all.
Last but not least are the pharmaceutical companies. How many drugs have you seen that have been pulled from the shelves after being marked ‘safe and effective’. Marketers use people’s fear of diseases and conditions to push their products whose side effects can be worse than the conditions they are treating. The FDA is responsible for regulating drugs but they do not do any testing on drugs. That is left up to the company that is creating it. The FDA only reads the research looking to make sure all conditions and requirements have been met.
The way to make sure you are getting what you are looking for is to do your own research. The only way to truly be sure is to read labels, ask questions, and take the time to look into the product. Whatever you are buying, no matter what the product, watch out for clever marketing and do your homework.
Until next time…Live well!
