What is truth in advertising - Essay Example

Truth in Advertisement What’s doing at the ad clubs? (May 1913) Mr. Waldo of Good Housekeeping addressed the issue of safe-guarding the buyer from the sellerHe established a policy at Good Housekeeping of making sure the claims of those who advertise in the magazine are representing their product honestly. The warranty offered meant that if someone bought a product that was defective from seeing an advertisement in their magazine, they would be refunded the costs of the product. Good Housekeeping lost 60,000 dollars when they first put the policy in place.

The advertisers that qualified were trusted more by the buyers, meaning that this increased revenue. For every dollar he lost, he gained at least a dollar or more. QuestionsWhat did it mean to the consumer to see advertising in Good Housekeeping during that era?How is this effected by current consumer laws?Real LifeThe Good Housekeeping seal of approval is still active today, meaning that if someone buys a product that does not live up to its advertising the magazine will refund the costs of the product.

Patent medicine advertising- It’s discriminate rejection unjustifiedNewspapers had decided not to allow advertising for patent medicines in their newspapers because some of the patent medicines had turned out to be fraud. Macklin (1913) believes that this is prejudice and that not all patent medicines are fraud so to generalize about them is wrong. Medicines fulfill a real need so they must be considered individually rather than just dismissing them all as unworthy of advertising space. The Winnapeg Free Press will not dismiss all patent medications as fraudulent, but will allow advertisements of those medicines that have proven their value.

QuestionsWhat law supported the newspapers in discriminating against patent medicines for advertising in their newspaper?What laws if any existed to prevent patent medicines from making fraudulent claims?Real Life Munyons Paw Paw Pills is an example of fraudulent advertising. James Monroe Munyun made most of his remedies from sugar and water, one of which was made from sugar and arsenic. His cures had no value and his advertising was completely false (The Quack Doctor, 2013). The vice of being too virtuousHubbard (1915) is speaking out against ad men who are trying to self-regulation.

He questions their decisions on different products and the generalization that they have used to make those decisions.He finds the way in which the men at the ad clubs have decided against certain types of advertisement to be censorship.Ad clubs that have tried to protect the public are being overly protective of a public that can protect itself. He uses P.T. Barnum as an example of how the public does not need to be protected, which makes very little sense since the whole way in which Barnum entertained was through convincing the public of what he wanted then to see, not what was real.

QuestionsWhy are consumer protection laws so important and how do they protect people in ways that they were not protected in 1915?Would self regulation of advertising ever truly protect the public or are governmental regulation necessary?Real Life(Yahoo, 2013)ResourcesGood Housekeeping. (2013). Retrieved from www.goodhousekeeping.com (Accessed on 6 February 2013). Hubbard, E. (May 1915). The price of being too virtuous. Economic Advertising. 8(5), 13,15. Macklin, E. H. (May 1913). Patent medicine advertising- It’s discriminate rejection unjustified.

Printer & Publisher. 22(5), 51.The Quack Doctor (2013). Retrieved from http://thequackdoctor.com/index.php/munyon-is- ready/(Accessed on 6 February 2013). What’s doing at the ad club? (May 1913). Economic Advertising. 36-37. Yahoo. (2013). Retrieved from http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt =A2KJkCLbZhRRET4AT7.JzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTBlMTQ4cGxyBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsD aW1n?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3 DP.T.%2BBarnum%2Bad%26ei%3DUTF-8%26fr%3Dyfp-t- 701%26tab%3Dorganic%26ri%3D22&w=337&h=302&imgurl=www.

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