Please Read the Fine Print
WHOLE STORE 50% OFF, screams every window hanging of any store that is having a sale on any particular day. What most people don't see is the fine print that says: does not include kitchen ware, jewelry, men's clothing, electronics, designer shoes, bedding, junior's jeans, intimate apparel, baby clothes, perfumes, or prom dresses. The sale does not ever actually include the whole store, they just want you to think it does. Using bright bold lettering to show you what you want to see, retailers can get you to ignore the less glamorous fine print that reveals the extensive list of exclusions. This is an advertising technique used by most companies to get us to buy our products.
For example, clothing stores like Macy's send out a large number of coupons to their card holders, usually promising 20% off or 20 dollars off of a purchase in white font that stands out against the bright red background to distract from the lovely surprise on the other side of the card. On the boring back side of the card, the exclusions pile up in thin black lettering. There are so many that they usually cover the whole back of the coupon. The company makes you think that you are getting some kind of exclusive deal by sending out the coupon but it is likely that what you actually want to be will not be covered under the coupon that you did not bother to read the back side because it was too long. Once already at the register, you will probably end up buying what you wanted because you went through the trouble of going to the store already, which is exactly what Macy's wants you to do.
Fine print within advertisements run rampant throughout the mass of ads in the media that we consume daily. On TV, miracle drug descriptions are followed by a long list of negative side effects stated somewhat softly by a long winded man who somehow makes them all fit within the last fifteen seconds of a TV ad. Radio advertisements do the same thing. Print ads use fine print underneath the massage they want us to see to distract us from what we actually need to see. Most of the time the fine print is the most important information in the advertisement. We can save so much time in our lives by paying close attention to the entirety of the advertisements that we see. So, please read the fine print.
For example, clothing stores like Macy's send out a large number of coupons to their card holders, usually promising 20% off or 20 dollars off of a purchase in white font that stands out against the bright red background to distract from the lovely surprise on the other side of the card. On the boring back side of the card, the exclusions pile up in thin black lettering. There are so many that they usually cover the whole back of the coupon. The company makes you think that you are getting some kind of exclusive deal by sending out the coupon but it is likely that what you actually want to be will not be covered under the coupon that you did not bother to read the back side because it was too long. Once already at the register, you will probably end up buying what you wanted because you went through the trouble of going to the store already, which is exactly what Macy's wants you to do.
Fine print within advertisements run rampant throughout the mass of ads in the media that we consume daily. On TV, miracle drug descriptions are followed by a long list of negative side effects stated somewhat softly by a long winded man who somehow makes them all fit within the last fifteen seconds of a TV ad. Radio advertisements do the same thing. Print ads use fine print underneath the massage they want us to see to distract us from what we actually need to see. Most of the time the fine print is the most important information in the advertisement. We can save so much time in our lives by paying close attention to the entirety of the advertisements that we see. So, please read the fine print.
Comments
Post a Comment