Lies? Lies? Lies?

What if someone is selling a house and they show an image of a beautiful house with a gorgeous landscaped yard...big trees, and a family SUV in the driveway...

then let's say someone goes by that house to look at it and it looks nothing like what was advertised...

the paint is peeling. There are dead trees with branches lying in the yard. The garage door is half ripped off. The roof is sagging, and the grass is 2 feet high and full of weeds...

is it okay that it doesn't look anything like was advertised?

And, is it okay to use the defense: 'Well, the average customer knows things are always made to look and sound better than they actually are'?

Let's say you're a restaurant and you advertise a steak dinner...

a picture of a big steak, so big it's hanging over the edge. Huge baked potato loaded with toppings.

Now let's say someone goes to your restaurant and orders that meal. The steak is small, the potato is miniature and the whole meal looks half the size and nothing like the picture.

Could your defense be: 'Well, the average customer knows things are always made to look better than they actually are'?

Actually, this type of advertising is and has been accepted by the average customer as being normal...which is another reason why customers think what is said or shown in most ads (including your piece) is usually always exaggerated.

Fast food burger places and taco places (for example), show big juicy burgers loaded with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, etc...

the customer buys it and it looks like it was dropped on the floor and stepped on by another employee who was rushing around to fill orders. The burger looks nothing like the picture. The pickles are hard to find. The onions look like miniature pieces of diced something. The tomatoes can't be found without taking off the top bun and looking for them...

but, in the customers' minds, they've already been programmed to understand what is said or shown in most ads is made to look or sound better than the actual product...it's common thinking.

It's your job to be above board and break through that 'average' customer thinking where most products are not like they're described. There are several ways to do this...but for this post, I'm just pointing out how customers are programmed to believe you're probably blowing a lot of smoke.

Anyways, back to the message not looking or sounding like the product...

there's a growing trend these days where customers are suing because the message advertised isn't anything like the actual product in the fast food industry.

The response from the fast food industry?...

'Well, the average customer knows things are always made to look better than they actually are'

Customers are becoming more and more upset about the fact that puffing up a product is the norm. Your job is to overcome that subconscious thinking and show them why your product isn't just blowing smoke.

Here's an article on the matter that made me think about doing this post:

https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/23/busin...its/index.html