It is a skillful and deceptive art with which an advertiser
threads the connection linking their product to a name or establishment that
conjures up a positive, trusted image.
"Laboratory tested", “9 out of 10 Doctors…" are just two samples
of these thin threads that are stretched taut between half-truths.
Compare the new truck shown on television, easily scaling a
mountain with a full payload, against the fine print in the warrantee or
examine the smiling lady pulling off a section of Cling Wrap in her TV kitchen,
and then attempt to just as easily tear off a piece of Cling Wrap for
yourself.
The World is completely covered with these thin
threads. They spew out from your
television and radio like Silly String from an aerosol can. American advertising is on par with a
crowded Baghdad
Examine a photograph of ice cream in a magazine. Look closer.
Yes, its mashed potatoes. Buy a
brand new weed whipper and see if you can keep it working as long as the guy in
the commercial does.
As parents struggle to teach their children right from
wrong, good from evil, there is a counter force wrapping them like mummies with
exaggerations, feeble promises and misguided trusts. Truth in advertising is as difficult to find
as honesty in politics. Real Estate
disclosure laws grew out of feisty legal battles, highlighting that omissions
are just as deceptive as falsehoods.
As we allow these deceptive threads to become an accepted
practice around the globe, we abandon any hope of a united front, leaving the
survival of honesty to the very people selling us that which they announce to
be free.
Shakespeare proclaimed the pen to be mightier than the
sword. I proclaim that when wielded by
advertisers our children suffer subliminal wounds that cannot be sutured with
silver threads or golden needles.
Leaving you with a little mental jingle…
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