In 2014 L'Oréal USA was involved in a scandal for claiming that their skincare boosts gene activity to rejuvenate the skin without any scientific evidence to back it up.
This can only labelled as marketing fraud - an illegal practice that makes false or misleading claims for financial gain. It includes talking big about the product’s attributes, concealing side effects or potential harm, and selling poor-quality items as up-to-par ones.
This company is just one example of how organizations are taking advantage of consumers. After all, people tend to believe that others are telling the truth more often than they actually are.
So when redditor Conradjenn started a discussion about American consumer scams, more than 6,000 people came forward with their own fraud stories. Scroll below to find the most mind-boggling ones that prove not all businesses are out to make a fair financial profit.
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Corporations have used fraudulent claims for a long time. In the US, the tremendous growth in advertising that took place after the Civil War was largely influenced by a long history of Western marketplaces. Back then, ethical issues regarding marketing were rarely brought to daylight as it was merely used to announce available products.
However, by the end of the 19th century, scams in marketing flourished, along with consumer suspicions about promoted food. Only in 1914 was the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Act put in place to limit self-regulation and prohibit false claims of advertisers. Afterward, if it turned out that an agency was deceptive, it faced legal problems.
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This continued as advertising progressed into television. However, the FTC hadn’t been given the appropriate legal instruments or staff to effectively monitor advertising. Therefore, in addition to their actions, a Lanham Act was introduced that allowed consumers or competitors to take legal action against false advertising. All they had to do was bring evidence.
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Ultimately, it’s difficult to monitor and analyze every advert that’s out there especially because they all include some kind of manipulation tactic that attracts people to buy the product. Whether that would be exaggerations, half-truths, or ambiguities, consumers need to be aware of them and take time to read about the product.
Currently, marketed goodies tend to create a false sense of health or target our fears to trick people into purchasing them. Like healthy-sounding phrases such as “gluten-free” or “organic” that lure buyers with the impression of being nutritious.
In fact, in 2018, researchers found that most bottled water advertising campaigns trigger people’s subconscious fear of death. They also stated that it symbolizes something safe and pure that can be very compelling to people who want to avoid health risks.
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The old food pyramid. Eat 6-11 servings of bread/rice/pasta per day. So that recommends eating some combination of
* wheat bread @ 420-770 calories
* white rice @ 960-1760 calories
* spaghetti @ 1200-2200 calories per day
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