Honesty in Advertising

From 25 May 2009 all car ads must have the total cost of the car prominently displayed. No more big price with an asterix that says “plus on road costs”. It’s a win for car buyers as we will no longer mislead about the actual cost of a car. When I buy a pair of shoes the price I see is the price I pay. Not once has a sales assistant said “that will be an extra $20 for getting them out of the box and an extra $15 for tax”. There would be an uproar if this was the case. Thankfully enough of us have had their say to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, who have changes the Trade Practice Act to ensure transparency in pricing.

Why do we sometimes accept these anomalies in advertising? Don’t we want honesty and transparency in the ads we see? A 1990’s movie exposed the ad industry’s somewhat dubious tactics to get us to consider buying a particular product or service. In the 1990’s these practices were so widely accepted that the no nonsense honest ads in the movie were considered a real joke. The fact that they were created by someone who had spent some time in a mental health care facility (I think this is politically correct) added to the farce. If you’ve heard the expression “boxy but good” which is pure honesty in advertising, here’s where it originated from. Beware, Gordon Ramsay has blown his chilli kiss at the beginning of the video.

Watch video now.