TV advertising flimflam

The advertisers on TV are at it again. I know they are going to state their case in as favorable light as they can for their products. That’s fair as long as what they state is true. But flimflam is more and different than being dishonest. Confusing, or misleading, statements would seem to be in the gray area between honesty and dishonesty. They seem to be misleading with the purpose to get the public to think of their products as better than they are. [Aside: Webster says flimflam means “deceptive nonsense.”]

Let’s play a little game of make-believe. I am going to start a random-winner system in which I invite a “customer” to send me $1 a day for a month. Specifically, I will state that I want a “customer” to send me $30 for every month except February, in which I want $28. For this “purchase” I will guarantee that each lucky participant in my product will win “up to $100” in each month. Would you do this? I’m sure you would think this through (I hope!) and would decide that the “up to $100” means that the most you would get is $100, even if I also said, “Maybe you will get $200, $300, or even more!”

So, at the end of the month when you received $23 you will have received “up to $100,” which really means “as much as $100, but probably less.”

I have tried to keep this from sounding like gambling, which it isn’t, but I don’t want you to think it is. Indeed, I put in other action for you to take other than sending me the $30 a month. And I guarantee you that if I am smart, and get hundreds or even thousands of “customers” that many of my “customers” will even get less than $23 back at the end of the month. Of course, if I’m smart I would make sure that the occasional “customer” would get back $100 or even more. This would really look good in a later ad! [Serious aside: Don’t send me any money, PLEASE!]

Now if I’m really greedy, but clever, I will send each “customer” something during each month to help each one keep track of their potential good future payout: I might send them a ball point pen and a pad to keep track of their behavior and little reminders of things they can do to be frugal and thrifty. I will try to give them “value” for their daily dollar with good advice. Will that be enough to keep each one happy? Perhaps, if I’m really greedy, I will offer them additional information, like life hacks, for an additional amount of perhaps $25 more per month, or $50; whatever I think I can get out of them is fair game. Remember, they could get back “up to $100” at the end of the month.

My real life example of this is a crazy ad from Nutrisystem® that states that you will lose “up to 13 pounds” the first month using their plan. I don’t know how much the plan will cost you, because they don’t list prices, but when I checked their web site I was sent an offer of “$20 OFF our top rated plan, Uniquely Yours” plus “free tips and weight loss info.” The net page, when I rejected this stellar offer, was for “up to 13 lbs & 7 inches overall in your first month.” I’m not sure where those 7 inches come from “overall” maybe an inch here and an inch there, but I hope not off my height! And 13 lbs? Well, “up to 13 lbs.” Such as 8 lbs or 4 lbs, perhaps, as the footnote mentions: “Weight lost on a prior program. Expect to lose an avg. of 1-2 lbs per week.”

So, the claim to lose “up to” 13 pounds really means you should expect to lose 4 to 8 pounds.

The trick here is that even that amount isn’t guaranteed! You can EXPECT any amount you want, more or less, but 4-8 pounds the first month is the most likely range.

I am going to expect that such weight loss will vary a lot, depending on my own behavior in eating, exercising, etc. and in making use of those “free tips and weight loss info” I will be getting. The price of the food? Not known until I sign up and pick a plan. But, I suppose the

top rated plan is the one I would need. [Aside: Amazon shows the Nutrisystem® Everyday 5 Day Weight Loss Kit (1) for $39.98 as of 10/15/17.]

Anyway, I know advertising tries to hook you with honest statements that reel you in. This one does, and I think everything they say is honest. One just has to be careful and smart enough to figure out what is actually being said. “Up to” means “at best, but maybe less.” And additional statements saying you could get/lose even more are just advertising puff, which is allowed. There are so many variations of how your behavior will go that the advertising statements turn into meaningless …. flimflam. Just my opinion, but I’m sticking to it.