Bullshit Advertising

According to Henry Frankfurt, bullshit is everywhere whether we know it or not. From advertising, to politics, and just in everyday life, bullshit persuades by misrepresentation. “One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit”, yet there is nothing we can do about it (Frankfurt 1). With the overabundance of information in the world and the pressure society puts on people to know things, bullshit continues to spread. That being said, bullshit is incredibly prevalent amongst product advertisement. One could argue that any attempt to sell something, whether it is an idea or a product, requires some amount of bullshit. Time after time, companies deceive customers by misrepresenting products and their uses: the
Victoria’s Secret is extremely lucky because its product, lingerie, is easy to advertise. Men love to see women in lingerie and women love to see new bras and panties. Then, Victoria’s Secret has that difficult job of taking gorgeous models with perfect bodies and putting them in these outfits. Naturally, every Victoria’s secret model looks great in the product, but that won’t be the case for all women. This is when the bullshit comes into play. “This lack of connection to a concern with the truth—this indifference to how things really are” is what Frankfurt describes as the true essence of bullshit (Frankfurt 33). As advertising should do, seeing these models look perfect each outfit creates a desire for people to buy the product. It is at this point that the non-supermodel consumer realizes that this lingerie does not fit her nearly the same as it fits the model. Many times, the fabric looks and feels different than expected and the fancy bras that have changeable straps are often too complicated to even figure out how to put one on. Even though it almost tricks people into buying its product, Victoria’s Secret will undoubtedly continue its method of advertising, and deception, just like Papa
This diet lures potential clients in right off the bat by having celebrities represent the diet and its effectiveness. Jenny Craig has had celebrities such as Kristie Allie and Queen Latifa represent it. This makes the diet seem more prestigious than it would if an average person was the main spokesperson. The catch is, we don’t know how the celebrities lost their weight. Plus, they have potential access to so many things that the normal person may not like unlimited money or a private chef. There is no way for the perspective dieter to know if these celebrities actually followed the program. In this case, “bullshit is a greater enemy of the truth than lies are” (Frankfurt 61). Thinking that this diet is a great idea and having it fail, is just one potential outcomes of buying into this bullshit. Unfortunately for the client, “it does seem that bullshitting involves a kind of bluff” (Frankfurt 47). For example, even when we get to see before and after pictures of normal people on the television commercial, there is no way of knowing if the person in the after picture is truly the person in the before picture. The Jenny Craig website states “It takes knowledge of healthy eating and active lifestyle strategies to lose weight, and it takes ongoing motivation to maintain that weight loss.” At this point, it is up to