Apple switcher ads, truth in advertising

[Brian Olesky]

On 12/16/02 6:49 AM, "Jack Rodgers" <jackrodgers at earthlink.net> wrote:

> The definition of advertising is 'comments filled with lies'. The prime
> lesson taught in advertising school is find out what people don't like
> about your product and then tell them that problem doesn't exist, if it
> stinks tell them that it smells good.

Having been in advertising over 30 years, I'd like to reassure everybody
that even if I wanted to lie in an ad, the army of lawyers we have to
receive approval from (including those employed by our agency, our client
and the media themselves) would never let it pass. As you might expect, with
the billions of dollars spent every year on media advertising, ours is one
of the most closely watched industries on earth. Of course some small
advertisers skirt these rules, but major advertisers like Apple rarely lie,
if for no other reason than getting negative press for doing it. On those
relatively rare occasions when major advertisers do lie, the competitors
usually fall all over themselves to tell the world.

According to everything I've read, the Apple Switchers actually are real
people. In fact, the biggest story I've read on the subject concerns
Microsoft doing their own Switcher ad in response, only to have it revealed
and widely reported (I saw it in David Pogue's article in the NY Times) that
the one ad they did was a fake! The negative press they got for this, just
like the negative press Sony got for using a fake movie critic in their ads,
just isn't worth it. So obviously there are some examples of untruth in
advertising, but those who lie usually pay for it in the end. It's very hard
to maintain a product or service's sales when people who purchase it find
out it doesn't live up to expectations.

Finally, rather than finding out "what people don't like about our product
and then telling them the problem doesn't exist" the general rule is to find
out what people do like about our product, and then emphasize that.

You may all now feel free to flame me to death.

Brian