From the allure and promises of sexy lingerie to free vacations in paradise, to becoming a millionaire overnight, deceptive advertising has been with us since the dawn of time. And it will be with us until the con-man breathes his last breath.

Deceptive advertising is ever present and practically takes a skilled professional to work through the daily bombardment of catchphrases thrown at us. "Join now and get the first month free." Lose weight fast!" " Buy now and pay no interest for two years" "Become a millionaire overnight"

Advertising is the way people make money so that they can make a living. It's a way in which people can buy nice houses, and nice cars, and have nice lives. But, with the continual bombardment from our e-mail to our newspapers to practically every Internet site pushing ads at us to buy or join something, we have become desensitized.

We have become a nation, a world of cynics that turn away from the ads as fast as they pop in front of us. Try getting away from advertisements being pushed at us. While driving to the mall, for example ads bombard us. A song on the radio ends to start up the parade of ads such as an ad for a new car. Various vehicles have ads illustrating the business their owners have started. The billboards on the sides of the road show businesses trying to sell their wares.

In short, a person can't get away from it. And the more there is the more we tune out and turn off. We click the ad away to get to the information we are searching for on the Internet. We turn the channel to lose the five minutes of ads and become immersed in another show, completely forgetting the one we were originally watching. We flip through magazines, past the glitzy ads and search for our article.

Try and try as they might to do anything to get our attention we keep our vigilance up and move past the gatekeepers to what our hearts desire. They promise the unbelievable. They try to make us believe the improbable. They give us hope, only to have us find out that it is yet another come on to buy something we really don't need.

Searching for a job on the Internet is racked with one deceptive ad after another. So many job search sites want a person to give them a certain amount of money to join their gold member status, or the top level, or the highest rung on the ladder. Then they will help us look for a great job that will have us netting so much money we won't have to work, we can spend our time vacationing on tropical islands.

Deceptive advertising leads to advertisers doing their best, (or that their worst) to get our attention. They'll do whatever it takes to sell that product if that means calling during the dinner hour to disrupt the family meal, to television stations promoting their next line of shows by showing the most fantastic moment as a come on to have us tune it.

Deceptive advertising even comes in the form of a woman wearing a lot of makeup, a push up bra, stiletto heels, hair extensions, false eyelashes, and jeans that pull it all in. The guy she's on a date with for the evening may think he's getting the prize, when he's all he's really getting is the bull.

Deceptive advertising will always be with us, we have to slog through it, and try not to be caught up in the heat of the moment. Deception is everywhere, so be wary!

Learn more about this author, Kate Johns.
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