Group Members and Tasks



Welcome to a "Happy Place"...
By: Eric Shivey

        Capitalist societies like the United States operate on the basis of profits and losses. The almighty dollar is often desired but not easily attained. Companies engage in fierce competition with one another in an attempt to experience the highest profit margins with their respective products. Success is measured in returns; so in order to ensure the highest sales, companies must advertise in a wide range of media. Honest advertising is perfectly acceptable and necessary for capitalism to function properly. However, companies create purposefully misleading advertisements to attract the maximum number of consumers. Some companies show their product offering instant solutions to complex medical problems. Other companies have people (usually actors) exhibiting an unrealistic enthusiasm for the product before and during use; afterwards the product seems to bring an unheard-of sense of satisfaction and fulfillment to the user. These ads often tend to only highlight the positive aspects, shying away from any characteristics that might make the product seem undesirable. This website provides a critical approach to viewing corporate advertisements. It is useful for seeing through the facades and false realities displayed in Television commercials. The following articles focus on TV commercials of alcoholic beverages, cellular phone companies, automobile sales, the perfume/cologne industry, the fitness industry, and computer sales.

Wassup?! With Alcohol TV Commercials?
Although clever, these advertisements can be misleading their viewers to think that drinking alcohol brings excitement and pleasure rather than the serious consequences that frequently arise.

Push, Pull or Drag in....Another Misleading TV Commercial
That dealer better be giving you an accurate sales pitch or they will be feeling the pinch in his pocket and not yours.

Do you Smell Something Funny...Like Misleading Perfume and Cologne TV Commercials?
Most cologne or perfume commercials are misleading because they try to portray an image that their scent, and their scent alone, will create effects that are often unrealistic.

All it Takes is the Magic Diet Pill to Mislead Commercial Viewers
In this industry faulty products not only waste your money, but they can also be harmful to your health.

Can you Hear Me Now?!....Misleading Cell Phone TV Commercials
The most common misleading topic that cell phone commercials try to avoid expressing is the costs of the unknown bill charges and where they come from.

Confusing Computer Commercials Captivate Me
Advertising is the key ingredient to a company’s success, so it’s pretty common for a company to go to extreme levels to sell their products.

 
In Conclusion...

By: Nichole Schalk and Jenkins Reese
           

       Consumers may have a tendency to believe things they see on TV, but they must take into consideration a few important points about televised commercially advertised products: 

       First- manufactures’ of any product you see on TV and else where, are out for one thing, and that is to sell their product.  Manufactures will often do whatever it takes to sell a product even if it means over exaggerating, or blatantly lying about the product and its abilities.  Companies in the perfume and cologne industry, for example, have an inclination to over exaggerate the effect of their product. While the Skinny Pill for Kids and the Electronic muscle stimulating abs machine are good examples of companies that out-right lie in effort to sell the product. Companies may also purposely not mention unfavorable attributes of their product. Many car dealers and cell phone plans use this technique in their TV commercials, they sometimes even leave out so much unfavorable information that it is illegal.  A consumer must also beware of products that may be portrayed to bring only positive results when in reality the product can lead to negative results or even be harmful to consumers.  Alcoholic beverage commercials often illustrate that their product only brings happy, and fun times when in actuality it may lead to devastating circumstances like drunk driving accidents.  

       Second- this leads to the majority of products that are advertised on TV to be misleading. Products are often so over embellished and it is hard to tell what the product actually is or does.  This leaves consumers unsatisfied with products they have purchased.  Unsatisfied customers may even write complaints because of the extreme failure of a purchased product.  Therefore, the consumer, upon buying a product, must critically think about the product and take into consideration that the product may have less of an outcome than as seen on TV commercials.  

       Third- We as the American people are the ultimate consumer and benefit from knowing this reliable statement “if it looks to good to be true, then it probably is not true!”