Are Commercials More Deceptive Than Ever?

Source: Image Source: PIxabay, Public Domain

While preparing dinner, I often watch CNN, and when commercials come on, I typically look away or turn off the TV. But recently, I happened to notice the commercials and the troubling changes in them.

First, I noticed that there were more commercials than I had recalled. It turns out I’m right. There are 22 minutes of commercials per hour, up from 9 minutes in the 1960s, according to DimensionsInfo. CNN’s appears to be in that range: here is a one day’s CNN programming and commercial schedule.

The commercials seem even more unfair to consumers than I had recalled. For example, many had lots of fine print—on-screen for so short a time that only a speed reader could read let alone comprehend it.

For instance, consider this commercial for Prevagen. The announcer and the large text says, “Can a protein originally found in jellyfish improve your memory? Our (emphasis mine) scientists say YES! (emphasis theirs)” But at the bottom of the screen in small print in a dull color, it says, “These statement have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.”

Then there’s the fine print in this commercial for the drug Chantix (Verenicline), Pfizer’s smoking cessation drug. Most of the screen consists of reassuring pictures of the happy ex-smoker. I could read the terrifying small print only because I was able to dig up the commercial online and could keep pausing it until I could read all the text:

"Some people had changes in behavior, thinking, or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping CHANTIX. If you notice any of these, stop CHANTIX and call your doctor right away.”

The friendly-sounding narrator speeds on:

“Tell your doctor about any history of mental health problems, which could get worse while taking Chantix. Don’t take Chantix if you’ve had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. If you develop these, stop Chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. Tell your doctor if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems or if you develop new or worse symptoms. Get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack or stroke. Use caution when driving or operating machinery. Common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping, and unusual dreams.”

I wonder if it isn't safer to keep smoking.

Lest you think that only drug companies produce unfair commercials, this Cartier commercial, which doesn’t disclose its prices but instead presents a fantasy hypertechnical manufacturing process made to look like a Hollywood movie—implies their watches are technically advanced. In fact, half of Cartier watches use the old-fashioned mechanical movement that, in general, is less accurate than a $20 quartz-movement Casio or Timex. And unlike quartz watches, mechanical ones, including Cartier’s, require periodic servicing. How much do Cartier watches cost? A visit to Tourneau.com, a major retailer of Cartier watches, finds they range from $2,680 to $59,000. And that understates the case. TheRichest.com reports that the 10 most expensive Cartier watches range from $164,000 to $2.76 million. But, if you buy direct from Cartier, you do get free gift wrapping.

Then there’s this commercial for the Volkwagen Jetta, which describes the car as “German engineered.” Volkswagen of North America’s home page for Jetta, also creates the impression that the car you’ll buy will be made in Germany: ”German craftsmanship.” In fact, according to Road and Track, the Volkswagen you’ll buy is probably made by Volkswagen de Mexico.

Or watch this commercial for Liberty Mutual Insurance. For the first 20 seconds, we see a likeable person saying the inarguable; for example, “Hey insurance companies! News flash, nobody’s perfect.” Then a narrator, off-screen, quickly says “For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual won’t raise your rates due to your first accident.”

The screen, in bright orange with big white letters, says “Accident forgiveness.” But in tiny yellow letters that blend into the orange so it’s hard to read, it says, “Accident forgiveness coverage is subject to terms and conditions of Liberty Mutual underwriting guidelines. Not available in CA and may vary by state.” But what if you don’t get accident forgiveness coverage?

More important, even if you meet the “terms and conditions of Liberty Mutual’s underwriting guidelines,” Liberty Mutual’s rates could be higher than other insurers. When ValuePenguin.com, an independent value assessment service, compared the price of Liberty Mutual with Allstate and GEICO in Boston, for all three categories of drivers considered, Liberty Mutual costs thousands of dollars more.

Consumer Behavior Essential Reads

What Other People May Think of You When You Buy Fast Fashion

How We Learned to Buy Our Feelings

Another Liberty Mutual ad on CNN said, “Switch and you could save up to $423*.” A jpg of that is on Liberty Mutual’s Facebook page. In much smaller type, the asterisk says “Savings may vary.” Indeed they may. Liberty Mutual’s statement says nothing about its actual rates. Sure, if you switched from an extraordinarily high-priced insurer you may save something, perhaps 1 dollar, perhaps even 423 dollars. But as mentioned, Liberty Mutual’s pricing appears to be, if anything, high. Note their use of the phrase, “Switch and you could save.” But people rarely switch to get a higher rate. That bogus statistic wouldn’t count all the people who considered switching to Liberty Mutual but found the price higher. The relevant pricing question is simply, ”Which insurance company has the best rates?” And regarding that, it appears the Liberty Mutual’s ad is grossly misleading.

Of course, Liberty Mutual isn’t the only insurance company to use the “Those who switch” ploy. For example, the friendly-sounding announcer in a 21st Century Insurance commercial, with a perky jingle in the background, chirped, “Drivers who switched saved an average of 550 dollars a year.” The screen said in small print “from Progressive.” But what about those who didn’t switch or who get insurance from higher-rated and lower-cost providers such as USAA and Amica? In small print in a hard-to-decipher color, it read, “National average of annual savings developed from information provided by new policy holders from 1/11/11 to 12/31/11.” Isn’t it likely that those who responded had greater savings than the average person who inquired? And 21st Century chose a study period that’s three years old. I wonder what more recent results would be?

Then there was the commercial for T. Rowe Price Mutual Funds. The announcer crowed, “70 percent of our funds beat their Lipper average.” In print difficult to read let alone understand even if were on screen for longer than the few seconds, the following appeared in white print on an almost-white background(!):

Cumulative total returns ended 6/30/12, all share classes. For 3-, 5-, and 10-year periods (124 of 171, 135 of 158, 71 of 92 funds,1 year: 124 of 180 funds (69%)” followed by “Results vary by period.”

In other words, 31 percent of T. Rowe Price funds performed worse than average. Well, at random 50% would. That’s hardly a ringing endorsement. More troubling, buried amid that fine print are “Results vary with period.”

In fact, according to the unbiased Morningstar rating service, over the last five years, T Rowe Price’s returns have been only 1% above benchmark.

Space precludes my describing all the deceptive commercials I saw during my brief period of watching commercials on CNN. I’ll simply list three quotes. You’ll get the point: (The bold-face emphasis is mine)

• Receive up to $500 cash back on Electrolux.
• Joseph A Bank: Selected suits are 70% off.
• Infiniti: Available four-wheel drive.The QX80 starts at $63,250. Four-wheel drive will set you back an extra $3,100.

The upshot

These are merely what I saw in a total of an hour of watching CNN, a station that gets a more sophisticated viewership than does some other channels. I can only imagine the deceptions on other stations.

Government should be much tougher on advertisers. But in the meantime, CNN’s programming creates the impression it’s on the people’s side. Yet in the more than 1/3 of air time that’s commercials, that appears untrue. In the end, like with many people, does it all come down to the almighty dollar? CNN needs to walk the talk.

What can we as individuals do? If text in a commercial—online as well as TV—isn't readable or if a print ad contains similar fine print, that material is probably something the company is required to provide but doesn’t want you to know. That’s not the sort of firm I’d want to patronize. You might want to look for a competitive product that doesn’t require such obfuscation.

And of course, there’s the time-honored general warning, perhaps more important than ever: caveat emptor: let the buyer beware.

Note: An earlier version of this article appeared on Time.com.

Marty Nemko’s bio can be found in Wikipedia.