I teach advertising, which gets an oft-deserved bad rap.
We embellish with puffery, but we should never lie to people.
Walking through Lowe’s, I saw Jobe’s Tree Care Products TreeStaKit. Needing to stake my trees and seeing an inexpensive price, I grabbed one. Through the package, I could clearly see that two cheap pieces of garden hose served to cushion the rope on the tree.
I had no problem with this. Until I read the packaging.
“The eyecatching tree tubes are not only strong but also provide high visibility for safety.”
Eyecatching? Seriously? Who are you kidding? It’s uber-cheap garden hose.
Add to this, the rope included was the cheapest, fastest unravelling junk ever.
Jobe’s, I am done with you.
Shot: Canon EOS Rebel T1i w/ Canon EFS 18-55mm
1/5 sec, aperture priority, f/5.6, ISO 3200, focal length: 47 mm
Photoshop: built-in flash
(Backlog: Today should be Photo 208. I am 67 behind).
I'm a cognitive scientist and communication scholar who manages a psychophysiology lab at Texas Tech. I teach courses about the cognitive processing of media messages and research methods.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
If I were you, I’d be more upset with the “strong” claim than the “eyecatching” claim. Seriously, those pieces of garden hose are eyecatching.
“Hey look, that crazy Bradley family has garden hose up against their trees! It really caught my eye!”
Eyecatching? Yes. Attractive? Probably not. Strong? No.
Guess ya got hosed. Hey, a guy that teaches advertising should know about my site at humorq.com. We are not commercial (OK … yet) and we provide our members with a fair way of putting a number on how funny they are by providing and judging cartoon captions. I think every advertiser should have that number. Please consider it for your students.