Deceptive Adverisement

Companies use deception to allure the public to buy their goods.Is it Correct?

Deceptive advertising, also known as false advertising, refers to a manufacturer's use of confusing, misleading, or blatantly untrue statements when promoting a product.In today’s time we come across a plethora of advertising via various mediums like Outdoor, Print, TV and Online. If done ethically, advertising is beneficial to advertisers as well as consumers. However there is a rising concern about some companies using unethical methods of advertising which is having a harmful effect on society. In the following paragraphs I will delve deeper on the issue.
In today’s time, TV viewers get to see a lot of advertisements during breaks in between their favourite TV programs. This diverts their concentration thereby reducing entertainment value of the programs they are watching. Another drawback attributed to advertising is that kids and youngsters fall prey to appealing advertising of fast foods chains like Mac Donald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut etc and they get attracted to unhealthy fast food resulting in various kinds of health problems like obesity, juvenile diabetes etc. Also, a few people argue that some companies use obscene materials in their advertisements to attract views which pollutes viewers’ minds especially that of younger ones.
Actually what we see is that good advertisements are the matured and ripe fruits of some clever thinking done by very sound and crafty brains. If the article is advertised again and again in a catchy and tasteful manner, it becomes very difficult to check temptation to buy it.We can get all the necessary information needed by us from the advertisement column of a newspaper. Advertisement can be done through many agencies. Newspapers are one of them. Other means are the radio, T.V. and handbills.Another very important function of advertisement is that it has helped in stabilizing the production, keeping the standard of quality and preventing the fluctuation in prices. It has also helped in promoting trade and in creating demand. It has become a necessity in this age of science and technology.But there is another side of advertisement also. 
Some crafty people try to cheat the purchaser through this media. It rather becomes very difficult for a purchaser to discriminate between the genuine and spurious goods. It is a pity that in such cases the general public has to suffer.
 Advertisements are sweet lies in India. Most of the companies, manufactures make unscientific and undue claims about their products. For example all the companies that make biscuits, cold drinks, potato chips, candies, etc. make appealing advertisements and playing them again and again on different channels luring and misleading children and viewers into buying them are predominantly unscientific and untrue. If the Health Ministry had been really thoughtful of the well being of the children,it would have kept a check on such advertisements that lure the consumers with bogus claims.The truth is there is no substitute for natural balanced diet such as green vegetables,fruits, nuts, milk, cereals, pulses, etc.; the nutritional values that these foods contain can never be replaced by the advertised products, still there is never an advertisement on them, even by the Government. The bitter truth is the companies of all products spend a whopping amount of money on advertisements. Since these companies enjoy enough power owing to their influence, they often display misleading and false claims about their products. Their chief objective is to earn maximum profit by increasing sales of their products. According to a report by Compass, 70% of three year olds recognise the McDonalds symbol but only half of them know their own surname. In addition, some advertisers take advantage of children's fears, for example by implying that they will be more popular, sporty or happier if they consume the advertised products. The use of sports stars to promote unhealthy products, such as Virat Kohli advertising Pepsi, Sachin Tendulkar promoting Coca-cola, bollywood actors promoting perfumes further do the damage.Owing to the misleading advertisements, the food habits and dressing manner of children have changed considerably and their health has been affected adversely for example consumption of junk food and use of chemical based toiletries such as hair wax and perfumes and Hydro-carbon products. 
The Government must make health regulatory policies to keep people safe from the influence of the advertisements.The only solution to the problem is strict rules and regulations concerning advertising and marketing of junk food items. The government must not allow the rich companies to play with the health of the future of the country.


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