Advertising Claims of Cosmetic Companies !

[Hal.]

I must choose an example for the question , so it will have to be this .

 

Companies routinely advertise their latest hair colouring products on television as giving beautiful shine and colour . Their dramatisations show models who move their hair side to side after using the product in question and all looks wonderful . But , because the ' colour and shine ' are from one perspective a function of the television settings that a person has chosen , shouldn't these advertisements be banned because of what they really are , false ! ?

[Moontanman]

What! You don't believe the oil from the rare Rocky Mountain cliff diving turtle will make your hair shine like the sun... shame on you for rejecting capitalism... snake oil has been a big part of our reality for a very long time, it used to be a lot worse and the idea of buyer beware was your only protection. Now there are at least rules that (mostly) keep them from being able to make dangerous claims but I agree using a model for beautiful hair who's hair has probably been that way since birth and using her good genes to sell a product by claiming the product will make your hair look as good as hers is despicable.

[Hal.]

I'm not claiming that the models hair doesn't look good due to the use of the product . I'm claiming that the person viewing the advertisement on the television can't perceive whether it does , as they claim , or it doesn't , which they don't , because the television settings are randomly selected and there can only be a very small probability that the settings are totally representative of the actual view .

 

And , I don't know what a Rocky Mountain cliff diving turtle is , I'm a European . And , snake oil in your hair , what's next ?

 

Edit : spelling

Edited June 7, 2011 by Hal.

[Marat]

The common law subjects commercials to a standard of veracity which allows for what has quaintly been termed 'puffing,' which means that advertisers have some leeway in the claims they make for their products, which don't have to be 100% accurate, unless they are stated as a warranty, in which case the company can be sued if the product doesn't match the description. You have to give them some room, since otherwise they couldn't say "these are the greatest corn flakes in the world!" unless they were prepared to prove that in court.

[Hal.]

I think the point is being missed here . I am saying that when a company puts an advertisement on television saying , look how green this fertiliser makes your lawn , that is a false claim , because the colour you see depends on the colour settings you have chosen for the television . I am applying the same argument to the claims of colour and shine of hair .

[Moontanman]

I'm not claiming that the models hair doesn't look good due to the use of the product . I'm claiming that the person viewing the advertisement on the television can't perceive whether it does , as they claim , or it doesn't , which they don't , because the television settings are randomly selected and there can only be a very small probability that the settings are totally representative of the actual view .

 

And , I don't know what a Rocky Mountain cliff diving turtle is , I'm a European . And , snake oil in your hair , what's next ?

 

Edit : spelling

 

 

Back in the "good old days" when the USA was expanding, snake oil was a common term used to describe something someone was selling that was of unknown origin or content. A great many people would mix up "elixirs" and sell them as cures for what ever the customer was afflicted with, some of it was best used to remove stains or kill insects, A Rocky Mountain Cliff Diving Turtle is fictional of course (but the Washington Coast Tree Octopus is real ) but "snake oil' salesmen were famous for making up exotic ingredients to claim it was contained in their medicine so no one else could make the same claim. Of course the ingredients changed as the salesman moved from one area to another. "Snake Oil" is an euphemism for something (usually medicinal) not really what it is claimed and possibly harmful.

 

If you pay attention to TV commercials you will often hear them claim nothing is better for this or that from pain to hair gloss but you will seldom if ever hear them say their product is better than everyone else's. I love those nutty commercials promising to do everything from grow hair to make your penis bigger, they are often so funny it's difficult to see how the manufacturer could be serious.

[John Cuthber]

Now new and improved with Bogusol and Psedudomadeupamide.