henric
03-01-2012, 01:34 PM
29/02/2012 11:44:00 AM
by Sameer Vasta
Advertising was created to be manipulative, but when marketing starts bordering on extortion rather than manipulation, it's time for our consumer protection agencies to step in and protect us.
We've all had dreams of winning the lottery, of coming up big in some kind of sweepstakes and falling into a whole lot of money. An unexpected financial windfall is always welcome.
Most of advertising today plays into our dreams, promising us big returns on our small investments: use our deodorant and woman will flock to you, drink our beer and you'll be the life of our party, take our class and you'll be successful in business. With advertising, however, we know we are being manipulated, that they are preying on our hopes and dreams to sell a product.
Sometimes, marketers are a little more nefarious: occasionally, we receive notices and letters in the mail that do not just hint at a bigger life, but actually insinuate that we may have already earned it. The "you have won a million dollars" sweepstakes letters are a good example of that kind of insidious manipulation that is not just preying on our dreams, but on our credulity and inability to separate marketing lies from truth.
Case in point: Jean-Marc Richard received a letter from Time Magazine sweepstakes that indicated that he had won close to a million dollars. All he had to do was subscribe to a magazine and send in his final paperwork. When the magazine started arriving, but not the money, Richard took Time Magazine to court.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Time Magazine was in the wrong, and that it had violated Quebec's Consumer Protection Act. The actions of the sweepstakes were more than just marketing, but instead a blatant disregard for the credulousness of the average consumer.
This ruling is important to all Canadians. While it is easy for us to shrug it off and say that we shouldn't believe everything we read, and that we should treat all marketing mail with skepticism, it is also unfair of marketers to over-manipulate and lie to consumers. Skepticism is important, but marketers should also be held accountable for their actions.
The Supreme Court's ruling shows that our judicial system understands that Canadians come in all types — idealists, cynics, believes, skeptics — and that each kind of person has a right to truth. Advertising may be manipulative, but it doesn't always abuse the boundary of truth and falsehood. Marketing campaigns that do abuse that boundary should be stopped.
by Sameer Vasta
Advertising was created to be manipulative, but when marketing starts bordering on extortion rather than manipulation, it's time for our consumer protection agencies to step in and protect us.
We've all had dreams of winning the lottery, of coming up big in some kind of sweepstakes and falling into a whole lot of money. An unexpected financial windfall is always welcome.
Most of advertising today plays into our dreams, promising us big returns on our small investments: use our deodorant and woman will flock to you, drink our beer and you'll be the life of our party, take our class and you'll be successful in business. With advertising, however, we know we are being manipulated, that they are preying on our hopes and dreams to sell a product.
Sometimes, marketers are a little more nefarious: occasionally, we receive notices and letters in the mail that do not just hint at a bigger life, but actually insinuate that we may have already earned it. The "you have won a million dollars" sweepstakes letters are a good example of that kind of insidious manipulation that is not just preying on our dreams, but on our credulity and inability to separate marketing lies from truth.
Case in point: Jean-Marc Richard received a letter from Time Magazine sweepstakes that indicated that he had won close to a million dollars. All he had to do was subscribe to a magazine and send in his final paperwork. When the magazine started arriving, but not the money, Richard took Time Magazine to court.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Time Magazine was in the wrong, and that it had violated Quebec's Consumer Protection Act. The actions of the sweepstakes were more than just marketing, but instead a blatant disregard for the credulousness of the average consumer.
This ruling is important to all Canadians. While it is easy for us to shrug it off and say that we shouldn't believe everything we read, and that we should treat all marketing mail with skepticism, it is also unfair of marketers to over-manipulate and lie to consumers. Skepticism is important, but marketers should also be held accountable for their actions.
The Supreme Court's ruling shows that our judicial system understands that Canadians come in all types — idealists, cynics, believes, skeptics — and that each kind of person has a right to truth. Advertising may be manipulative, but it doesn't always abuse the boundary of truth and falsehood. Marketing campaigns that do abuse that boundary should be stopped.