The Impact of Deceptive Advertising

Deceptive advertising is a problem that affects the entire business community. Unfortunately, there are many unscrupulous people doing business in this world who would rather swindle people out of their money than earn an honest buck, and deceptive advertising is one of the tools they use to do it.

Who hasn't received an envelope stating, "You've won a million dollars." or "Your free dream vacation awaits." I once heard of an ad for a solar powered clothes drier that never needed to be plugged in, for only one hundred dollars. Those who sent money received a length of clothes line and some clothes pins.

What percentage of that which we are presented with daily is honest. Take the time to read some of the spam you get in your e-mail and see how many lies you can find. Even legitimate advertisers have a tendency to embellish upon their products so they appear better than they actually are.

Deceptive advertising is rampant in today's world. Because of its frequency, its impact on us is huge. The biggest impact is how it has taken away our trust. We have learned to mistrust almost everyone, especially those whom we do not know well. This mistrust has transformed us into a jaded society, having little respect for what we are told. We have become a people who believe what we believe and are slow to yield even to the truth.

This is a shame as there are many advertisers who are honest about their products but are not trusted. Think of all the time and money a company must spend telling the truth time and time again in an effort to get the facts across to the consumer. And some of us will never believe some truths no matter how many times we hear them because we've been lied to once too often.

Another impact of deceptive advertising is what it has done to our individual honesty. Like it or not, we learn from one another. Society's traits and habits tend to "rub off" on us. We hear so many lies in our daily lives that soon our own level of honesty starts to waver. How many of us as consumers have bought something, broken it, and returned it to the store stating it came in the box that way? How many of us have been handed too much change, noticed it, and said nothing? How do we justify this? We say, I've been misled and lied to by business, now it's my turn to get something for nothing.

The real tragedy brought about not only by deceptive advertising, but lies in general, is that it drags our society into a downward spiral. The more we stop believing today's lies, the more intricate the lies the liars invent. (Who knew what "phishing" was a few years ago?) Where will it end?

Learn more about this author, James Dreamer.
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