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Advertising has a habit of getting a bad rap (sometimes deservedly). The big issue are two-fold: true and substance.

The quality of the claims that an advertisement makes does give many in an audience healthy skepticism but there is often also a willingness to test those claims. This is what makes such advertisement worthwhile to the maker.

The substance of an ad is truly what reaches the audience. If the audience is entertained by the ad, then the claims made tend to be secondary. We note and recognize the product or service being presented which is the goal. We remember when Mean Joe Green gave his shirt to the boy, it was because the boy gave Green a Coke. We how to solve ring around the collar. We even know how to make our room smell fresh, keep our food from going bad and the seven or eight stores to buy the coolest clothes.

Of course, these are real ads. While they may inflate the effectiveness of the product, we continue believe in at least a kernel of truth in advertising.

It is that belief that is preyed upon by false advertising. In the 2004 election, we saw how false claims could bring down a presidential candidate. People visit adult sites, get "virus protection" and fall for claims to enlarge parts of their anatomy every day. They respond to the calls to invest in companies only to lose money after the scheme falls through. Not many have strong effects but enough do to make it profitable for the advertisers.

If we had become jaded as a society, it wouldn't work. We would have lost that belief in even that kernel of truth. Instead, even with our skepticism strengthened, our faith in the truth of advertising remains.

Learn more about this author, Steven Laskoske.
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