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bookish1's avatar

What are some silly marketing claims you've seen?

Asked by bookish1 (13159points) June 27th, 2013

I just noticed that on my bottle of dishsoap, the label says “Cleans bacteria away!” as if this were some new property of 21st-century soap achieved only by modern science.

What claims from advertisement or labels make you say, “Well, Duh!” and why?

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14 Answers

OneBadApple's avatar

Pick up one of those toe fungus remover packages at the drugstore. In almost every case, the front shows “before and after” photos, one disgusting, and the other with the same toenail looking quite perfect.

Now read the text on the back. It almost always says:

“NOTE: Product will not eliminate toenail fungus”

El_Cadejo's avatar

Well not so much of a well duh but definitely silly marketing claims…. ADD 10 in TO YOUR DICK LENGTH TODAY!!! LEARN TO SECRET TO FUCKING ANY GIRL YOU WANT!!! etc etc

Ever notice on some packets of lights it says “For indoor or outdoor use only” as opposed to?

ucme's avatar

Not a marketing claim, but equally dumb is on food packaging, they put a little photo of whatever food you just bought on a plate & label it as a “serving suggestion”
Fancy that, I was going to eat it off the bloody floor!!

mattbrowne's avatar

“This is the first diet that really works.”

And you wonder why the previous 1000 didn’t work.

JLeslie's avatar

There are two types of silly marketing claims. Ones that are impossible, and basically false advertising, like some diet pills and herbs. Eventually some of them are removed from the market. And, claims similar to what you gave an example of; claims that have been true forever. Like potato chips suddenly claiming to be cholesterol free. They have always been cholesterol free.

mattbrowne's avatar

Here’s another one: Very healthy – no trans fats.

But loads of sugar.

RealEyesRealizeRealLies's avatar

“Finally! An honest mechanic!” printed on a massive vinyl billboard above the shop.

The reality proved to be the most deceptive bunch of thugs I’d ever dealt with. That’s the only time I ever had to sue someone to get a partial refund, of which I did get. That was ten years ago, and I still get grizzly thinking about it.

gailcalled's avatar

“Lifetime guarantee”. If it is for a lightbulb, for example, that simply implies the lifetime of the lightbulb…ten minutes or 1000 years.

YARNLADY's avatar

One of our local news broadcasters uses “We have the news first” but it only means they have the news before the sports and weather, not before all other stations.

JLeslie's avatar

@YARNLADY One of the stations where I live has “weather first.” That is reason enough for me to watch that station when I care about the weather. Usually I don’t care, and usually I don’t watch much local news. If I am tuning into a local news station it probably is to find out the weather though. So it is a good sales pitch for me.

augustlan's avatar

The newest one seems to be “Gluten Free!” on food items that are, by their very nature, gluten free.

Gabby101's avatar

Make-up marketing is the worst. I guess because it’s for women, no one take the misleading ads seriously, but they should. Advertisers admit that they photoshop the ads of women wearing their makeup and even add false eyelashes in mascara ads.

ETpro's avatar

“Solanpas is the strongest labeled pain reliever available without a perscription.” I’ve been so irritated with other pain relievers who refused to make their labels stronger. I could care less how it works. Just give me an incredibly strong label, and I’m pain free. ~

Berserker's avatar

I like that whenever I buy a cow heart, some guy with an axe is all like, full o’ iron, yeah?! I’m like, o rly?

I mean…well I bought beef jerky before, and on the bag it said, congratulations! You’ve just bought the best beef jerky in the world!
It’s like, what the hell? Congratulations for what? Having money? Yeah, thanks broski. And really, it has some nerve telling me it’s the best jerky ever. I mean isn’t that an opinion thing?

Personally I like how modest ramen noodles are. They don’t claim to be the best, they just misspell everything all over the package and instructions.

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