1. Weasel Words: The Art of Saying Nothing At All- William Lutz
Cut out a magazine ad that uses “Weasel Words”, beneath it write a letter to the people/person who may be interested in this advertized product. Your job is to warn them, in one way or another, that the ad for the product they are interested in may be either misleading or exaggerated. Explain to them very briefly what weasel words are, and how one or more of them may be used in this particular ad. Explain to them what might be a more appropriate phrase that better depicts the product. Remember to introduce yourself as a concerned citizen.
To whom it may concern, my name is , I’m a student at AUB and a concerned citizen. Recently I have seen this ad circulating on different websites and more than one magazine. I felt the need to express my opinion towards this ad and warn the people who are interested in purchasing this product. Therefore, I am writing this letter to inform you about the advertising tricks used in this commercial, more precisely the use of “weasel words”.
The expression “weasel word” comes from the egg eating habit of weasels: they will suck out the inside of the egg leaving it appear whole. The same here is present in the world of advertisements. Weasel words are misleading and vaguely carry any meaning at all.
In this ad, people are subjected to believe that this product will act fast, “in only minutes”. Well, clearly this ad is over-exaggerated because there is no way that a product will have such an effect as in the picture shown, and certainly not in minutes.
A more appropriate phrase would be in my opinion: tired of your wrinkles? Try Dermitage.
Here, it’s clear that Dermitage is a product which its use is to get rid of wrinkles without any misleading ideas.
I would greatly appreciate you keeping me informed about any future developments in this case.
Sincerely yours,
.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
As the enzyme continually degrades elastin, one simple solution is to increase the amount of the protein to catch up with its breakdown. This solution can be achieved through the topical application of tropoelastin. Tropoelastin is an immature form of elastin that is penetrated into the dermis and matured over time. (3) With the addition of more elastin, the skin is able to revert its indentations back into its resilient state. However, the continual application of elastin is inefficient. Thus, a better alternative is the introduction of inhibitors of elastase. Similarly to tropoelastin, the inhibitors can also be applied topically through doxycycline hyclate. (3) The inhibitors in doxycycline hyclate prevent elastase from functioning properly, thus elastin degradation is dramatically reduced and the development of wrinkles is delayed. Ultimately, there are many solutions to reduce the effects of elastase, however, the complete resolution of our degrading elastin is difficult to…
- 757 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Living in a world where everyone is so busy and cognitive performance is important to stay on the ball to live a happy and successful life, anyone who is watching this ad might think they found something that can help. A cheap exciting way to boost your performance sounds like a deal. But does it actually work? As we shall see a close examination suggests that this ad actually targets a vulnerable population by creating an illusion that they provide a solution to many life problems. Information is presented in a misleading manner that really draws the customer to trying their products, but the product simply does not work, at least not in the way we would expect it…
- 1684 Words
- 7 Pages
Powerful Essays -
He also stated that the claim that advertisers use are usually incomplete words and to make the ad more effective they provide influential visual images along with it. Sometimes different “weasel words” are joint or altered to make a tagline. Nowadays advertisers are using technological and scientific way to promote their product.…
- 527 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
One of the great things about microdermabrasion at home is that you don't need a fancy toolkit or a ton of products to achieve great results. People who want a simple, one-step procedure will love Decleor's Phytopeel Exfoliating Cream, which is the at-home version of the same product used in spas. Made of natural ingredients, this exfoliating cream gently removes dull, dead skin cells while cleaning the skin for a smooth, radiant result. All you need to do is apply a medium layer to your dry face…
- 908 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Now 25 or so years later Dermalogica is sold in more than 25,000 salons and spas in 86 countries. It is rated #1 in the skin care industry. Her post graduate school has taught over 100,000 skin therapists since opening. Wurwand changed the nature of skin care with 2 concepts that helped her business’s grow to what they are today. The transcendent power of human touch and the far reaching effects of education, shaped Dermalogica and provided a social blueprint for women and their own financial success.…
- 930 Words
- 4 Pages
Better Essays -
In advertising today, there are many misconceptions and falsity in advertisements. We are exposed to countless commercial messages every day persuading us to buy brand name products, creating images for us to adopt, and convincing us that we need and want more. Because of this, it's important for us to carefully examine ads to determine exactly what they are saying. Advertisements can be very misleading and it is not fair to the consumer. Advertisers will make claims about their product or service to convince the consumer because consumers are influenced by advertisements urging them to purchase products that they may or may not need or want. While many of these advertisements honestly inform and educate consumers, some are false, deceptive, and even illegal.…
- 488 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
This type of skin needs the base exertion as a purifying routine twice every day with a gentle face wash and conditioning took after with saturating does that trap.…
- 436 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Today, people want to look as young and glowing as they can. To refresh and restore their facial appearance, they opt for many new and advanced facial procedures. Due to various factors such as naturally with growing age, sun damage, smoking, improper diet, your skin becomes thinner. It develops lines, wrinkles and folds which get more prominent on your face over the time.…
- 565 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
In American society today, we can’t go anywhere, watch or do anything without exposure to some type of advertisement. Companies spend millions of dollars in efforts to reach us as consumers. They use manipulative messages and deliver underlying promises to get us to buy their product. Advertisements reflect the political, economic, and social environment of their time. As consumers, it is important that we are able to deconstruct those advertisements and understand the underlying message that they are trying to send to us.…
- 1108 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
1. Dermabrasion has a high risk of scarring and loss of normal skin pigment- Severely painful…
- 1320 Words
- 6 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Doublespeak is a part of everyday life. Turning on the television, commercials and advertisements bombard households with doublespeak. Advertisers use doublespeak in the way of euphemisms, color, bold words, jargon, gobbledygook and inflated language. Doublespeak is a non-stop flow of phrases to manipulate consumer’s basic emotions and get certain reactions.…
- 431 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
This ad was used in order to send a subliminal message to the unconscious mind so they would try the product without knowing they were being control in to doing something they did not want to do. The company strategically is to mind persuade or manipulated each individual into doing what the company what the individual to without them knowing they are being brainwash into doing something new. Once an individual feeds into an ad, the subliminal message has persuaded several individual into trying or buying a new product.…
- 964 Words
- 4 Pages
Better Essays -
Advertising is a form of communication for marketing used to encourage, persuade or manipulate the audience to continue or take new actions. Many companies, be it a popular brand like apple or a local brand like F&N, use advertising to market their products. In order for these advertisements to be effective they need to be rhetoric and so, use the three forms of rhetoric: Pathos, Logos and Ethos to persuade the audience to purchase their products.…
- 616 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Societies are ever-changing and influence on this shift come from all directions. Regular people, media, and even government officials try to make an impact on culture. One of the ways people effect societies is through doublespeak. Advertisements, campaigns, and commercials use this approach to mislead consumers. Though many linguists have tried to define doublespeak, William Lutz provides a simple interpretation in his book Doublespeak:…
- 1554 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Advertorials differ from traditional advertisements in that they are designed to look like the articles that appear in the publication. Most publications will not accept advertisements that look exactly like stories from the newspaper or magazine they are appearing in. The differences may be subtle, and disclaimers—such as the word "advertisement"—may or may not appear. Sometimes terms describing the advertorial such as a "special promotional feature" or "special advertising section" are used. The tone of the advertorials is usually closer to that of a press release than of an objective news story.…
- 3695 Words
- 15 Pages
Powerful Essays