Most women know that when they buy a cosmetic, its not going to turn them into the smooth faced adolescent that is pictured in the advertising. The reality is that it doesn’t matter how much ‘Meaningful Beauty’ I slap on, I’m never gonna look like Cindy Crawford!

But we still buy into these false promises, such is the power of vanity (and stupidity) as a driving force in consumerism.

It’s a fact – we are persuaded to buy because of the ‘promises’ we are given in product advertising.

But how many time does the product just not live up to the promise?

Take fast food as a typical example.
Burgers are always pictured stacked high, bulging with fillings, topped with a nice round bun – nothing like the ones I normally get that look like the after effect of a steam roller encounter.

Advertisers spend a lot of time on product styling – they understand how important it is to sales that their product looks good to the customer.  To do one shot of a burger a food stylist will sort through hundreds of buns to find the best looking one – just like they do when they make our burgers in the store, right? The fillings are all specially prepared, often using non-food items and enhancers to make them look just right. Toppings are carefully arranged, lettuce is tweaked… and this is all before the image goes before a designer experienced in retouching.

Designers will always be called upon to cast their magic Photoshop wand over images. During my design career I’ve retouched grass to look greener (even adding it in where there wasn’t any), removed power poles and electrical fittings from property shots, added hair and removed tattoos from advertising personalities, but it is important for an advertiser, and their designer, to know when to draw the line between fact and fiction.

A customer who buys something based on a false promise, only to be disappointed, will never buy that product again. They may shout their disappointment from the roof tops or remain bitterly silent, too embarrassed to admit they’ve been duped. Every time they see the product they will remember the disappointment – the advertiser rarely gets a second chance when there is so much choice.

Going down the route of the snake oil peddler is not a good strategy for long term product success.

PS: Don’t buy Bircher Delux cereal – contrary to what is shown on the box, it isn’t full of the artfully arranged fruit and nuts. A bowl of milk-soaked cardboard would be just as tasty and lots cheaper!

Posted on December 9th, 2009 by Wendy Riley-Biddle
Filed under: Environmental