Fake stories? Or True Stories? Any thoughts?

If the story happened - it's real.
If you made it up - it's not real.


Have never cared what 'gurus' have to say about it. I don't lie to family or to friends - and I won't do it in business, either.


It's a 'line' you set for yourself - do what YOU are comfortable with.

honestly i think i lost the ability to distinguish the truth from false when it comes to advertising and stories...

mostly in affiliate marketing - i dont think anybody goes around checking if the story happened or not.. they just care about the conversion...

We have fictional books that people read and like ,we also have non fictional books that people like.

In my opinion it's about being authentic while at the same time crafting or documenting and sharing your experiences in a way that is engaging and digestible for your target audience .

Your post seems mostly philosophical, and it feels like you're caught up in a crisis of conscience more than anything else. The way you phrase your question is more about general ethics, than about marketing and advertising.

(Honestly, I'm not really sure why this thread is in the copywriting section instead of the mindwarrior / philosophy section, but I guess you used the word "story" so this is where it ended up?)

Of course people lie. Marketers lie. Politicians lie. Friends, family and strangers lie.

Some lie for altruistic reasons (like to save someone else from getting hurt)
some lie for greed or malicious intent (for their own selfish ends)
and sometime people lie because they're just repeating something they heard, and accepted it as truth without knowing it was a lie.

But when push comes to shove anyone who tells you they never ever lie under any circumstances, is lying (or just mistaken).

The only difference is the reason why, the intensity of the lie, and the frequency of the offense.


Now as for your last question, as it relates to advertising...
By not intentionally lying

It means it is based on proof of fact

Kay King already answered that one...

If the story happened - it's real.
If you made it up - it's not real.

No. A lie told 1000 times does not make it true. Even if it becomes the accepted gospel of the masses it does not make it true. At that point it's just the dogma of conformity.

If someone sells sugar pills as a cure for cancer, no matter how good the story, it does not make it true. (it just makes them a scumbag taking advantage of desperate people)

Then for you, trust should not come from the story... It should come from the storyteller.

The option is to tell the truth...the reality...and if you don't know the reality, find out.

Selling and copywriting can be defined as "The Truth, well told."

"What is true for me"? I have no idea what that means.

But " What is true for my customers"? I know what that means. It means you don't fabricate facts and try to pass them off as true.

Lies are not true, no matter how it makes you feel.

The question isn't about truth.
The real question is, are you comfortable lying to your prospects? Some people are.

Another question is, how comfortable will you be when you get caught?

Prolly the line between fact an' fiction stretches way beyond all vanishin' points of existence.

Question is, who do you believe along the way?

All I know is, nowan died out in Waco back in the day can benefit from any shade of our viewpoints.

Even on WF.

Such is the gravity of story.

let me rephrase the question... how do i make sure that I don't lie in marketing and advertising?

Just make sure that claims are truthful, backed by evidence, and not misleading. Be transparent about your products or services.

Would I believe it? Nope. But doesn't matter as that is not MY WEBSITE. I'm only responsible for what claims I make...not for what others do.

Best I can tell after reading back through your comments...you're asking how to know if the company/people behind the products you offer as an affiliate are being honest in their marketing?...

on that, I would say you need to do your research and stick with reputable products. There is nobody that can answer whether they are on the up and up or not without knowing them or researching them.

As far as ethics in marketing, that's a subject that would take pages and pages to cover. It's not a simple single answer. There are too many moving parts and situations that can't be explained in a single post.

Some will say you can't use a fake story to sell a product...

yet, the famous Wall Street Journal letter that sold over 2 billion dollars worth of subscriptions and ran for years and years was made up. And by the way, was swiped from another letter. Was that ethical?

Companies pay big money to have their product seen in a movie about star wars...since the movie isn't true, are they using a made-up story to sell their products?

One of the first guys that wrote a book and website about picking up women used a pen name and fake persona to make millions...was that ethical?

Several authors have used pen names...some with fake personas.

Marketers have used pen names and different personas for different genres.

There's a female persona that was created with deepfake that has over 1 million followers on Instagram...she isn't real but gets paid tons of money to recommend a product...is that ethical?

I could go on and on...

I have a B.S. in marketing and can tell you there are so many sides to your question that there is no quick or easy answer.

One thing that is an easy answer...your product better not have false or misleading claims...and had better stand the test of what you claim it will do.

So, to wrap up my post...there are no quick answers when it comes to marketing ethics. There are too many moving parts.

Trust your gut feeling

I think it's best to be honest

Can stories be used vicariously? In other words, if I don't have personal experience about a particular product or service, but I can research and find stories that others have had, then would it be ethical to adopt that story? I love the responses here, a lot heart wrestling!

Using stories you 'find' may risk copyright violations. If you 'adapt' a story that isn't yours, it's your decision of where the 'lines' are.


Do you need a 'fake' story to sell your product? Maybe it's the wrong product.

If it happened to you, you know it's true. If you saw it happening to someone else, you know it's true.

True, with your biases thrown in.

Other than that, you do not know. You need to decide whether you trust the source or not.

In real estate appraising, you're guilty of something if it is found that other appraisers in your area do not do that thing because they think it's wrong.

In other areas, they say things like: would a reasonable person think, based on the information readily available to people at the time of the action, think that was true?

So, it means you do research. Good research. If the research says it's likely to be true, you use it as true. As an added measure of security, you keep notes of where you got your info.

You, as a marketer, are interested in conversions. But you, as a marketer, cannot be interested only in conversions. Because of morals and laws.

Morals, I leave that to you. Laws, it only takes one person complaining about you to the right people the right way for you to end up in legal trouble. Which may mean, you lose all the money your conversions made you and more.

Did you ever noticed ads that say, Dramatization? When you want to convert, to present a good story, and not to be legally or morally in a bind, you let people know what you're doing.

If you're using a story that you know for a fact is true, you say so. If you are using a story you heard from someone and believe to be true, you say that.

If you're using a story that you heard but have no idea if it's true or not, you say so.

I can use a story about a weight loss product that converts that says, Hey, man, this story shows what this product can do. It was provided to me by the maker of the product.

It will convert less well than other stories, because I'm not claiming it's true. But it will get some people interested all the same.

By the way, you can start stories that you do not know are true with:
Imagine you're... then you write your story. It's powerful. It makes no claim that it's a true story. You have no idea how strong people's imaginations are when they want them to be. And, when you're presenting to them a product that could fulfill their desire, they're often in the mood to imagine themselves getting the good results of that product.

If something is not under your control but you could have known was fake, you can still get in trouble.

If you have no idea (and a bit of research couldn't show you something wrong with the product), then, you don't have a problem.

Even if someone was selling sugar as a cancer pill.

Because, again, you had no way of knowing. And that's not something you can try on your own (unless you have the type of cancer that pill is for).

The questions are:
1. Do you care if something is true or not? (I.e., What kind of marketer (reputation) or person (reputation) do you want to be/become?) If you care, there's the other question:


2. Do you know, or could have you known, if the product claims / stories are true or not? If the answer is no, you're fine; if it's yes, you pass.

The way you make sure you're not lying:
1. Do not say something you know not to be true
2. Research things (make a good effort but don't spend your whole life). You are not a detective but you're not an idiot either.

Gotta figyoore Greek mythology can help us all here.

See, bcs you remembah Muddoosah, right?

Evrywan knows that: the gal with the snakes.

But, for many people, Perseus is kinda a trivia quiz question.

* Purr-who? Am I missing something on Netflix here? *

Such is the Gal With Snakes vs Guy With Daggah narrative.

Anyways, seems Perseus warn't content with his way-back-when beheado glories.

Dig deepah into Greek myth, an' you discovah his battle with Odyssaloumi, the mighty serpent controllin' Pluto's procreation rights.

Bangin' discourse on slavery & dom, tellya.

Thing is, dependin' on your sources, Perseus ventures to slay the serpent bcs

a) his triumph ovah Muddoosah empowahs him to "grow himself"

or

b) his preoccupayschwaashwahn with snake stuffs drives him crayzee, like you eat one M&M an' then you gotta finish 'em ahf

or

c) store was shut, he bored offa his tits, an' neglected to prepare for the opportoonity by naht investin' in no gun.

Anyways, fkr goes there: to sum quasi-wilderness Zeus garden bristlin' with all kindsa divine & non-divine chimerae.*

An' he gets to slay the snake.

What a triumph for the acclaimed mastah of serpentcraft!

Problem is, Odyssaloumi was alive to the tips of her scales till'n Perseus did what he dun.

An' a single scale from that serpent's eye embedded itself in Perseus' skull, bleedin' his brain till'n he died.

(Course'n, it didn't -- you gotta remembah how Greek myth zackly that. HUSSTORY! My d'ohbrain parentheses, naht yours.)

So: did Perseus die bcs he dissed Muddoosah's ass an' figured hisself all-powerful?

Trad story says he invoked his powah ovah her ass when he enfeebled beyond all deloosion.

He gazes at Muddoosah's rotted head -- an' dies.

So why we hearin' this version of the story steada the torture the snake's scale inflicted as it buried itself slowly inta Perseus' braino?

Ansa: bcs the version you mostly hear portrays Perseus as a less accidental kinda losah.

An' I guess that is the seecrit of stories always.

To be procreatively replicatorial way beyond their time & occasionally preview sum snake-slayin' nowan with a matchin' sword/leathahware combo.

(Is this yr Thursday too? tbh natchrl froot jooce is yr gateway to powah.)

How images an' woids pass before us,
like we all kinda suddenyool ZAHMBO.
Dig deepah, with zeal of a succubus,
to the land of Olympiaschwango.


* Wanna day jahb that place dowin' the admin? Thouagth naht.