July 22, 2003
From the desk of Jane Galt:Truth in advertising
Those libertarians who don't want to study war no more can ponder the necessity for government advertising and labeling regulations while reading this delightful ad for some sort of powdered nutritional product, which features one of the many diseases companies used to make up in order to claim their product cured them: the dreaded night-starvation.
But please read the entire thing; one should also ponder just how far the copywriting art has come, as exemplified in the decidedly ambiguous description of the product: "Horlick's has a fascinating flavour, and it is economical too."
Posted by Jane Galt at July 22, 2003 4:10 PM | TrackBack | Technorati inbound links"Diseases companies USED to make up"? You just need to take a stroll down the magnetic therapy aisle at Target to see that government advertising and labeling regulations haven't put a complete stop to this nonsense. Today, Horlick's would just have to add a small print disclaimer: "Not scientifically proven to prevent your husband from feeling 'fagged out'."
It sure is nice not to have to think critically, knowing that the government regulates labels and advertisements.
Reminds me of an old radio commercial that proudly proclaimed that Wheaties contained "the same number of heat-producing units as a cooked cereal." I guess that sounded more boast-worthy than noting the two had the same number of calories.
Well, I for one like seeing a two-page medicine advertisement followed up with a third page of detailed information on contents and side effects, as compared to the traditional approach of mixing one part eye of newt with nine parts pure ethanol and then claiming miraculous healing effects...
Cure for "Night-starvation", bah-humbug! Everyone knows the _real_ cure for this condition is to be a software developer and stay up all night. Eat all you want while you work--end of problem!
-Kirk (taking a break from staying up late programming.)
The real follow-up question to Jane's interesting post: if the FDA were to stop regulating the advertising of drugs, would private organization(s) step in and fill the breech? (Comparison: rating of creditworthiness, which could conceivably be done by the SEC, is done by private organizations like Moody's & S&Ps.)
If the private sector were to take over the FDA's role, would they be beholden to the advertisers? Would they be less risk-averse?
'some sort of powdered nutritional product'? Let's play 'spot the American'...
Horlicks is a British institution -- even now, the website provides advice on 'sleeping better' -- and you can still see the name on the factory when taking the train westwards out of London through Slough.
I'm pondering the necessity. I've no problem with prosecuting demonstrably false claims in advertisements, but then libertarians generally do oppose fraud and consider it a valid crime.
On the other hand, as people have pointed out, this ad would pass muster today with only the slightest changes - say, describing exactly the same mechanism for "night-starvation" but without showing a doctor and using that name.
I tried reading the ad, but I was feeling too "fagged out" to finish. I wonder if there's any medicine I could take?
A delightful description of the process of making up imaginary but realistic-sounding ailments such as 'night starvation' may be found in the book 'Murder Must Advertize' by Dorothy L. Sayers. It draws upon Ms Sayers' own experiences as an advertizing copyrighter in London in the 1920's. The fabrication of the imaginary conditions of 'nerve power', 'nerve weakness', ASF, to be cured by the (fictional) product Nutrax is a pivot of the storyline, and closely resembles Horlicks' 'night starvation' ploy.
llater,
llamas
wuzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz up homie g ur soo cool ur my new best friend. this aint no game machine it looks like a cash machine an this aint no super market so im gonna TELLLL MOMMA!!! peace out my homie g slice cherry pie!
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