“I’m not lying. I’m advertising!”

Putting the truth into advertising.

Yankelowich reports 76% of consumers don’t believe that companies tell the truth in their advertisements. During his Clio award acceptance speech, comedian Jerry Seinfeld talked about lying in advertising:

 
“I love advertising because I love lying. In advertising, everything is the way you wish it was. I don’t care that it won’t actually be like that when I actually get the product being advertised because, in between seeing the commercial and owning the thing, I’m happy, and that’s all I want. Tell me how great the thing is going to be. I love it. I don’t need to be happy all the time. I just want to enjoy the commercial. I want to get the thing. We know the product is going to stink. We know that. Because we live in the world, and we know that everything stinks. We all believe, hey, maybe this one won’t stink. We are a hopeful species. Stupid but hopeful.”
 
He goes on to say:
 
“I think spending your life trying to dupe innocent people out of hard-won earnings to buy useless, low-quality, misrepresented items and services is an excellent use of your energy.”
 
I don’t believe or accept Jerry’s “truths”.
 
I’ll only take on clients that add value to their customers. Our ads reflect our client’s actual advantages. We don’t need false claims to make our clients succeed. Only, we need to be able to say their advantages more powerfully than they can.
 
I’m not saying this because I’m a “good guy”. I’m saying this because bad products/companies will fail in the end and I don’t want any part of that failure. I believe in long term clients that can grow year after year.

My mentor Roy H. Williams says "Traditional hype and ad-speak make today's customers deaf and blind. They can smell hype and phony promises a mile away, and they're turning away from them in greater numbers every day. So bluntly tell your prospects the truth. Confess the negative, or they won't believe the positive. Believability is the key. Tell your prospects how and why your product can deliver what it promises."

Is your advertising believable? Are you willing to tell the truth? 
 
P.S. If you want to learn how to satisfy your clients by understanding their buying motives, then you need to download Bryan and Jeffery Eisenberg’s new book "Buyer Legends: The Executive Storyteller's Guide" (Kindle Edition). It’s free until this Friday, November 7th. The Eisenbergs have repeatedly consulted with great companies such as Google, HP, NBC, Universal, GE, WebEx, Overstock and Dell. The book only takes about 90 minutes to read and it gives you insights that the greatest companies use. I was impressed by this book. You will be too.

Morty Silber, CEO

Mad Strategies Inc.
a Wizard of Ads Partner