Wild Hair Wednesday – The Truth in False Advertising

When does providing false information cross the line from slight exaggeration to an outright lie? Before heading to the mountains, I check out the snow totals from the ski resorts. Sometimes the differences are negligible and other times it is like a huge storm just squatted on one ski area for the day leaving all the others high and dry. Rumors swirl like snowflakes and soon, through word of mouth, the inches of snow can pile up to feet.

Last weekend, I heard a lot of buzz about one ski resort retracting their snow totals after it was reported they received a mere 4 inches instead of the 22 inches in 2 days. Could it be that a ski patrol took the measurement in a snow drift?

This snafu got me thinking about what else is greatly exaggerated.

● Job Resumes. I often wonder with the economy being in the toilet and so many out of work how many new employees have found themselves the hot seat. “Well I did say that I knew how to build a website. How hard can it be? What is HTML? I have no idea what all those little letters stand for. It’s like another language.”

● Boobalicious Bras and Swimsuits. Talk about false advertising! Okay, I sucked into this one. I bought a swimsuit from a Victoria’s Secret catalog knowing that their bras have always fit me well. After I received the suit in the mail, the cups were so padded I started laughing. When I put it on, my cleavage was enormous. I wore it once and was afraid the rumor mill would start about a boob job I did NOT get, so I never wore it in public again. Since then, I have only brought out “boobalicious” to wear in the hot tub on my husband’s birthday.

● Movies. Have you ever watched a movie trailer 6 months before it came out and it is already critically acclaimed? What critics? Their  Moms and Aunt Ednas? And how much were they paid?

● New and Improved Anything. When was the last time you went to the store to buy your favorite product only to find that they had completely changed the formula, destroying it in the process? I recently bought my favorite skin cream and discovered that the company must have replaced it with paint stripper because afterward, it felt like 6 of my 7 skin layers had been removed.

● Zero Cholesterol. A couple of years ago, the FDA changed the regulations to allow small amounts of cholesterol and trans fats to be classified as zero. Packages were redesigned to include their reduced their serving sizes so they could say that their product was cholesterol free!

● Gas Mileage. If you have ever been sold a bill of goods this is it. Whatever the miles per gallon your car manufacturer promises will only be attained by going downhill for two hours with the wind at your vehicle’s back.

● Commercials.  A very long time ago, commercials had to include disclaimers for anything their product couldn’t do, but that was back when food didn’t have to be food. Advertisers shellacked ham and used white glue for milk. Not anymore my friends. Now all of the food is real, but they would have you believe that if you drink Crystal Light, you can single-handedly take down the muggers that steal your purse. Or your neighbors will be jealous if you crack a window when you fry Farmland bacon. Okay, maybe they will be, but don’t get me started on miracle skin creams. Yes, snake oil is still being sold today.

● Weather. When was the last time the forecaster in your area got the prediction dead on from a couple of days out? I would say about 50% of the time which would be the same as flipping a coin. I always wanted to keep track of the 5 to 7 day forecast just to prove it. My daughter took a meteorology class and the professor said no super Doppler anything can predict Mother Nature more than 24 hours in advance. I just look out the window.

Hey, it’s snowing again, but I don’t remember the forecaster predicting any precipitation today. I wonder how much the ski resorts are getting?

Where have you seen false advertising?

Have you falsely advertised or exaggerated something?

Click on Victoria’s Secret model for link to catalog

Nutrition label by Wikimedia