Straw Men In Advertising
posted by Dan Filler
I recently noticed that Rite Aid’s prescription bag sports the following headline: “One in two women dies from heart disease. One drugstore is taking a stand.” What is Rite Aid suggesting? Have CVS, Walgreens and Osco gone soft on heart disease? Do they condone the illness? It reminds me a bit of Outback’s flummoxing motto: “No Rules, Just Right.” Just what are the regulatory structures handcuffing the eager steak lover? What does a fellow have to do to get a Porterhouse over at Ruth’s Chris?
I’m waiting to see what straw men will be identified next. Will Southwest Airlines boast that their cargo holds are mold-free? Will we learn that Crest does not cause teeth to turn indigo? It’s time to have a talk with the marketing folks here at Alabama Law. I’m going to suggest that we stand up against irrational jury verdicts. Take that, Harvard!
February 22, 2006 at 12:11 pm
Posted in: Advertising
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Responses (3)
Jim Harper - February 22, 2006 at 2:19 pm
What an odd complaint. A drug store makes a claim that it’s doing more than other drug stores to combat disease – and this is bad?
Perhaps stung by the allegation, the other stores will emphasize the fact that they are also working to combat heart disease, or perhaps they will focus on another source of morbidity and mortality. All of them risk being called to account by their competitors if they are lying, of course.
So we’re faced with commercial entities driven by self-interest to promote healthful products and behaviors to consumers. And this is somehow bad . . . .
Advertising uses illogic, puffery, and lots of other techniques to communicate with people. Real people, busy people. People who don’t necessarily have time to ruminate about minutiae in their ‘blogs, much less respond to other’s ruminati – um, I’m just gonna stop there.
Stephen - February 22, 2006 at 7:14 pm
Straw “men”?? How about an ad saying:
Prof. Filler’s Blog Posts: Now 100 Percent Gendered Language Free!
Jon Krueger - August 21, 2006 at 8:14 pm
Rite Aid is taking a stand:
http://www.rawbw.com/~jpk/stand/Pictures.html
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