Orwellian Language Blog

Advertising - accurate, fast and fair - or just simply misleading? It has the benefit of being able to express views and exploit an audiences mind.

Advertising has the capability of persuading people into entering into commercial transactions and thus "false advertising" (i.e the use of false or misleading statements) is strictly forbidden and companies are required to have "truth in labelling" (the customers have the right to know exactly what they are buying).

For example in Australia, (and most European countries) there is a very broad provision in the Trade Practices Act that prohibits conduct by a corporation that is misleading or deceptive, or would be likely to mislead or deceive you.

It makes no difference whether the business intended to mislead or deceive you—it is how the conduct of the business affected your thoughts and beliefs that matters.

If the overall impression left by an advertisement, promotion, quotation, statement or other representation made by a business creates a misleading impression in your mind—such as to the price, value or the quality of any goods and services—then the conduct is likely to breach the law.

George Orwell’s creation of "Newspeak" in his the novel 1984 shows how the reduction of words can change the meaning of them and the following adverts are good examples:






For example, Gillette's slogans such as: "the best a man can get" and "the worlds most comfortable shave" are extremely misleading because some men may prefer Wilkinson Sword blades and find them more comfortable. The advert suggests that there is nothing better a man can have to shave his face which is clearly misleading and not the 100% truth. The product itself is aimed at a mass audience but the adverts slogan brackets all men into the same category. The use of the 3 professional athletes is another Orewellian technique showing that by bringing famous personnel together and the mass market in order to sell a product.

When the iPhone was first released, one of Apple's adverts was banned because of complaints over the adverts fale advertising. The advert showed the phone loading webpages very quickly and containing "flash and java" images , which at the time the iPhone was actually incapable of producing.

Watch the advert here :

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/aug/27/apple.apple

Perhaps more recently and maybe more in the public eye, there was the controversy surrounding an anti ageing advert, where Twiggy had infact been airbrushed, thus misleading the target audience (presumably women, perhaps the odd vain man..!) into thinking the cream would have the amazing effects and results shown on Twiggy's perfect wrinkle free face.

Read about it here : http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/advertising/airbrushed-twiggy-advert-ruled-misleading-by-watchdog-1841973.html

Personally i believe there are certain boundaries in advertising, airbrushing Twiggy was unacceptable and misleading, however, there also comes a point where the audience must not be so gullible as to believe everything they see., however, the truth of labelling law is there for good reason, in order to protect the average member of the public and make sure transactions occur on fair ground for both parties.

Other adverts that caught my eye when surfing the net were examples such as the food colourings in Hula Hoops and the "100%" beef burgers in McDonalds, the list could go on forever.

George Orwell's theory of "Newspeak" in 1984 is simply fascinating and gripping because it ties in with the foundations of modern advertisements. In the world we live in today, the advertisement industry's manipulation of language and misleading slogans for their brands seems to be socially acceptable and we all fall for it , so my advice to you all , read the small print!