"Useful products": carefully read the packaging!
Lies on the packaging, or 10 tricks of marketers
Svetlana Romanova, Slon.ru
"Everyone lies," says the main character of the popular TV series. "Advertising and marketers lie," others concretize. Of course, in order for the product they promote to be chosen by the consumer, manufacturers and marketers are ready for a lot. They are not exactly lying – they may well be severely punished for malicious deception of the consumer. But they find clever loopholes to give out wishful thinking, non–existent - for real. Slon has collected several examples of how marketers catch consumers and play on their ignorance and naivety. Read the packaging carefully!
Terrible gluten
Recently, packages of flour and cereal (and not only) products are increasingly labeled with the words "Gluten-free", and especially vigilant buyers who lead a healthy lifestyle prefer to buy just such food. They say it's better to be safe and not eat some kind of "gluten": what if it's harmful? At the same time, they do not even realize that they are hooked by marketers who have decided in advance how they will frighten a particularly conscious part of buyers with a scary word. Gluten or gluten is the main protein of cereals. It can really be dangerous, but only for those people who have the hereditary autoimmune disease celiac disease (gluten enteropathy). Previously, celiac disease was considered a rare disease (one case per 1000 people), but now it is detected more often, usually in a latent form. But recently, the products are popular not only among those who suffer from the disease. All hypochondriacs also prefer to buy what is marked with a crossed-out ear icon.
Without cholesterol!The inscription on the bottle with vegetable oil that the product does not contain cholesterol (and it should not be contained there in any case) is an excellent marketing move.
He works for those who do not know that there is no cholesterol in vegetable oil. It is very similar to the joke of students from the University of California, who distributed leaflets on campus warning that water should not be drunk in any case, because it contains a dangerous substance without taste, color and smell - dihydrogen monoxide (dihydrogen monoxide is the scientific name of ordinary water). Surprisingly, none of the marketers used this term and offered to put an inscription on the product stating that it "Does not contain dihydrogen monoxide". The word could pass for dangerous.
Without preservatives
Noticing the fashion for a healthy diet and a proper lifestyle, manufacturers have encroached on the most sacred for adherents of healthy lifestyle – preservatives. And we visually got rid of some of the products from their content. For example, not so long ago, the manufacturer of the Coca-Cola drink distinguished itself. He released a bottle with a new label and the inscription "No preservatives. Natural caramel dye". Well, there are no preservatives, but did this make the drink less harmful?Excess weight due to the content of a large amount of sugar or diseased kidneys are only part of the problems that a lover of a sweet drink may have. But apparently you can still drink it and there is nothing to be afraid of – after all, there are no preservatives!
GMO-free salt and water
Over the past ten years, genetically modified ingredients have become another horror story (they can really be treated differently, this is a personal matter for everyone). But marketers, without discussing whether GMOs with GMOs are actually useful or harmful, have fallen in love with slapping the inscription "Without GMOs" on any product they come across, regardless of whether they are in it or not (it is unlikely that an incredulous buyer will be able to quickly check their availability even with a strong desire). They have the right to do this, but it is important to know that in Moscow, for example, such labeling is a voluntary matter. You can stamp a phrase on any product. Of course, such a trick works for the buyer if the notification about the content of harmful ingredients is not brought to insanity. As in the case when the phrase appears on those products in which, even with a strong desire, GMOs cannot appear – for example, on packs with salt.
Great Lent
Lent is a good reason to draw attention to the product. At this time, advertising and packaging are transformed, information appears on it that the product is lean. As a result, the buyer may be offered two identical products, just one with a "Lean Menu" sticker, and the other without. In fact, there may not be a big difference: as vegetables were a lean dish, so they remained. But a buyer who is not too deeply versed in the composition of the product, but observes fasting, may well fall for a marketing ploy and, choosing between a simple loaf and a loaf with a "Lean product" sticker, will choose the latter.
Super-useful bacteriaBacteria in yoghurts and fermented milk products, which are described in advertisements on TV screens, is a truly unique invention of marketers.
In fact, many of them are common bacteria living in the human microflora. Such, for example, include the bacteria ActiRegularis. Their real name is Bifidobacterium animalis. Enterprising comrades have patented the beautiful name of one of the strains of this bacterium. Everything would be fine, but the effectiveness of the fact that Bifidobacterium animalis survives in the acidic environment of the stomach and is not rejected is proved only by studies of Danone and other companies that produce products with this bacterium. In April 2010, the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) in France began testing the properties of yoghurts, after which Danone actually admitted that yoghurts do not contain any special healing properties and announced a change in its advertising campaign in the country.
Magic ShampoosMarketers like to invent not only beneficial bacteria in yoghurts, but also invent new super-useful substances in cosmetics, shampoos and creams.
For example, they are releasing a new series of cosmetics with cashmere extract, which is actually lanolin, which is extracted when raising sheep. It is indeed used as a component for hair conditioners, because it cleanses the hair – but the substance does not affect the growth and strength of hair as promised from blue screens.
A radical wayAnother marketing trick by which you can convince the buyer that the advertised or sold product is the best and worth buying is to tell that the previous product of the same brand was much worse, and it is no longer necessary to use it.
"New formula", "New improved composition", "Five times more effective", "Improved molecules", "Even more taste" – and often an asterisk indicating that the advertised product is improved compared to the previous one by an infinite number of percent. It probably happens that honest manufacturers come across, and the composition of the product really improves. But alas, the consumer who fell for such a bait has no way to check whether the intentions were good.
Global RussiansA clever way to play on the feelings of the consumer is to make everyone around believe that your brand is not like the others.
For example, disguise yourself as a foreign brand, actually producing your products somewhere in the Moscow region. Ralf Ringer, Sela, OGGI, Incity, Zarina, Be free, Savage, People Wear, O'stin, Carlo Pazolini, Chester, Carnaby, TJ Collection, Paolo Conte are only a small part of the brands posing as "foreigners".
Research Institute of AdvertisingIn April 2010, the Federal Antimonopoly Service fined Unilever Rus LLC for advertising posters in the subway.
The advertisement reported that the cleaning agent "Domestos" is a means of preventing H1N1 influenza in young children. Interestingly, such an advertising campaign was approved by the Research Institute of Hygiene and Health Protection of Children and Adolescents of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. How could this happen? It turns out that cases when different state institutions give the go–ahead for advertising are not uncommon. "The Association of Dentists recommends", "The Institute of Nutrition of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences assures" – everyone has seen similar phrases. It is beneficial for laboratories to cooperate with business, because for many structures such approvals are the only way to survive.
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29.02.2012