Introduction
The need for advertising arose almost as soon as the goods, sellers, and buyers appeared. In order to successfully sell any product, it is necessary to attract a buyer. To date, most have already developed psychological immunity to the massive advertising attacks that they experience day by day. It is the desire to quickly stand out among competitors, to distinguish themselves, and the desire to be noticed by consumers that often forces company managers to resort to violating the law and using unfair advertising as a method of promoting goods or services.
Discussion
Advertising of a very popular herbal supplement Airborne in the 90s lured customers with the promise to prevent infection with harmful bacteria and microbes and to avoid such common ailments as flu and colds. However, the problem was that there were no medical studies capable of proving the benefits of Airborne (Weinmann & Bhasin, K, 2018). Consumers were asked to simply believe that this dietary supplement is able to protect against pathogenic microorganisms. After the case of unfair advertising of Airborne went to court, it turned out that the miracle drug contained a mixture of minerals, vitamins, and herbs. Shortly after these results were made public by the media, Airborne began to change its advertisements. In the end, the manufacturer of Airborne was forced to pay more than $23 million to settle the lawsuit (Weinmann & Bhasin, K, 2018). Now they talked about “immune stimulation”, and not about the prevention of flu and colds.
Conclusion
Thus, historically, the only way for most entrepreneurs to convey information about a product or service to the consumer is through advertising. However, unfair advertising discredits those who do not use the advertised product, it contains incorrect comparisons with competitors’ goods, and hides some of the information essential for consumers. Thus, the analyzed dietary supplement products are a vivid example of misleading advertising.
Reference
Weinmann, K., & Bhasin, K. (2018). 14 False Advertising Scandals That Cost Brands Millions. Business Insider.