I only say hilarious because, if you realize that the majority of people might be gullible enough to believe these claims, it might make you cry. (Better to laugh instead -- the world carries tears enough for all of us.)
Before I call your attention to the "highlights" of the Minyanville article, I'd like to call your attention to the author Sterling Wong's description of the balance between extremes that regulators continually try to strike here in the United States, the most dynamic production and marketing environments in the history of the world:
Go too far, and we have a situation like that in the European Union, where companies making bottled water were banned from making the claim that water can prevent dehydration. Be too lax, and we become like China, where you can never be sure of the authenticity of a food product.
Not an easy job, to strike and maintain that balance, and kudos to them for being ever-vigilant in the fight against deception.
Read on for a few highlights, definitely click through to the whole article, and feel free to share this link so that less people may fall into the tender trap of marketing puffery.
- Apple's vaunted "retina display" does not actually outstrip the performance of the human retina
- Hand sanitizers are not as effective as they claim (so, wash your hands)
- Taco Bell uses beef plus "extenders" (don't ask)
- Reebok "EasyTone" shoes do not actually improve your butt tone by 28%
- Acai berry is just a berry, not a weight-loss wonderdrug
- White tea (in Nivea's "My Silhouette Cream") does not, in fact, improve your silhouette
For more in the annals of what I call "badvertising", click here.
