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Products directly opposite from what is claimed — Parallax Forums

Products directly opposite from what is claimed

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
edited 2015-07-14 02:52 in General Discussion
I'm beginning to detect a pattern with product packaging lately. It seems as if claims made for a product are diametrically opposite their actual characteristics. Here are but a couple examples:
1. Sunscreen. The package blares: Non-greasy! Will not run into the eyes! In fact, the product was so greasy, I could've used it to fry eggs and they wouldn't have stuck to the skillet. And, yes, it did run into my eyes and BURNED!
2. Toilet shutoff valve. Again the package blares: This is the quietest valve on the market! Well, the neighbors might not hear me flush, but they'll certainly hear the tank refilling! I've never had such a noisy toilet.
What's up with this? It's as if the hype were designed to cover the products' deficiencies, rather than to claim any actual benefits. I suppose it's easier for consumer products to get by with this than more technical items could. Any forumistas out there with other examples? "Enquiring minds want to know!" ®
BTW, this is NOT a pitch for anyone to mention Vanilla Forums here, so please don't. I've started enough wildfires as it is in this tinder-dry environment. :)
-Phil

Comments

  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    It all started when they made the 1/2 gallon ice cream container 1.75 quarts - the world has been headed for disaster ever since! Now, you're lucky to get 1.5 quarts in 1/2 gallon of ice cream!!
    (Yeah kids, ask your parents, the truth is out there!!)
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2015-07-14 03:18
    'Not to mention the so-called "6 1/2 oz." can of tuna. And when did a "fifth" become 750 ml?
    -Phil
    P.S. 'Careful, mindrobots, mentioning ice cream is perilously close to the "v" word! 'Not allowed in this thread! :)
  • GordonMcCombGordonMcComb Posts: 3,366
    Phil, easy solutions here: stay indoors, use an outhouse.
    On ice cream, isn't the whole thing something of a cheat? Nearly none of it is made with ice as part of the process, and more and more, it has almost no cream.
    Rick, if you're upset about 2/1.75 quarts thing, how do you feel about the trend to pump air into the mix as the container is being filled?  This is not just soft serve (which I prefer, but that's beside the point).
  • TtailspinTtailspin Posts: 1,326
    edited 2015-07-14 03:57
    You get what you pay for, usually..I blame the Metric System, and Capitalism. Software used to be "the bigger the manual was, the less useful the software would be."
    Who goes to Baskin-Robins and orders..Vanilla.??? 

    -Tommy
  • John AbshierJohn Abshier Posts: 1,116
    This burns me up:  Recipe calls for 2 cups or one pound.  New packaging is 14 oz.
    John Abshier
  • dgatelydgately Posts: 1,630
    Was doing toilet repairs yesterday... The repair kits of two national brands claimed #1 quietist valves. At least one of them is lying.
    Snake oil salesmen roamed the prairies looking for tombstone towns, selling the #1 best cures for all illnesses, many moons ago :innocent:  Today, the snake oil salesmen use the "interwebs", TV commercials and deceiving packaging to do the same.
  • bill190bill190 Posts: 769
    I've noticed something similar with advertisements. The things they claim their product does (or does not do) are probably from the calls they are receiving on their complaint line from customers who have purchased the product in the past!
    So these days they respond to customer complaints - not by making a better product - but instead by trying to brainwash people into thinking it is not a problem.
  • wmosscropwmosscrop Posts: 409
    edited 2015-07-16 16:32
    I'm beginning to detect a pattern with product packaging lately. It seems as if claims made for a product are diametrically opposite their actual characteristics.  My example is "Chemical Free". Then what's it made from? Water (for one) is a chemical... Walter    


  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    Advertisers. All fibs and lies. Perpetually brain washing us. No morals. No conscience. Put them all to death I say. 
    It was OK when it was just nonsense on TV that you could skip by running to the kitchen and making the next cup of tea. Or pages in a magazine you could pass by. But now it's in you face every which way you turn.

    Except...sometimes they come up with something great. Like this brilliant and award winning TV commercial for crappy dehydrated mashed potato back in the 1970's  
    Or this wonderful  commercial for the 2015 IKEA catalogue  
  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    Advertisers. All fibs and lies. Perpetually brain washing us. No morals. No conscience. Put them all to death I say. 
    It was OK when it was just nonsense on TV that you could skip by running to the kitchen and making the next cup of tea. Or pages in a magazine you could pass by. But now it's in you face every which way you turn.

    Except...sometimes they come up with something great. Like this brilliant and award winning TV commercial for crappy dehydrated mashed potato back in the 1970's  
    Or this wonderful  commercial for the 2015 IKEA catalogue  

    That IKEA commercial was a stroke of genius, and the mashed potato wasn't bad either. Unfortunately such ones are few and far between. Even so I think a death sentence might be a bit harsh.

    I'd love to be able to arrange fitting entertainment for the annual advertising awards.....All the doors close and lock the participants in, the main lights go off and are replaced with multiple strobe lights flashing frenetically, multiple displays around the room blast out the 100 most obnoxious commercials at maximum volume, catapults around the perimeter of the room launch the banquet food, and the refreshments are served by high pressure nozzles.
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    "Wasn't bad"? At a time of endless banal washing powder, detergent, toothpaste and "BEANZ MEANZ HEINZ" commercials that crappy mashed potato add was revolutionary, outstanding. Hence it being an award winner. In fact:
    They were voted the television Ad of the Century by UK trade magazine Campaign and the second best television advert of all time in a Sunday Times and Channel 4 poll in 2000 (the Guiness surfer advert from a year earlier took first place). ITV also crowned the Smash Martians number one in its Best Ever Ads list of 2005.

    See how this advertising business has rotted by brain since I was a teenager!?


  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    "Wasn't bad"? At a time of endless banal washing powder, detergent, toothpaste and "BEANZ MEANZ HEINZ" commercials that crappy mashed potato add was revolutionary, outstanding. Hence it being an award winner. In fact:
    They were voted the television Ad of the Century by UK trade magazine Campaign and the second best television advert of all time in a Sunday Times and Channel 4 poll in 2000 (the Guiness surfer advert from a year earlier took first place). ITV also crowned the Smash Martians number one in its Best Ever Ads list of 2005.

    See how this advertising business has rotted by brain since I was a teenager!?




    Well, I really despise commercials, so "not bad" is actually a bit of a compliment relatively speaking.

    As for the brain rot, what can I say. It must be pretty bad if you don't realize that all those awards are just the ad  industry patting itself on the back ;-)
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2015-07-16 23:04
    Yes, it's pretty bad. In this case it's not just the ad industry, at the time pretty much everyone got a good giggle out of those spud adds and was impressed at how imaginative they were. I always thought they benefited from having been created by a physics graduate. I for get his name now, he went on to become very big in  advertising.  
    Now, I could recite the words of the Go Girl deodorant commercial, if you like, that got burned into my brain as a kid, you see at that tender age you can hardly tell the difference between a cartoon intended for entertainment and one intended to brainwash you into buying stuff. 
     
  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    Yes, it's pretty bad. In this case it's not just the ad industry, at the time pretty much everyone got a good giggle out of those spud adds and was impressed at how imaginative they were. I always thought the benefited from having been created by a physics graduate. I for get his name now, he went on to become very big in  advertising.  
    Now I could recite the words of the Go Girl deodorant commercial, if you like, that got burned into my brain as a kid, you see at that tender age you can hardly tell the difference between a cartoon intended for entertainment and one intended to brainwash you into buying stuff. 
     

    LOL, yes, I know what you mean. Often find myself humming the tune to "you'll wonder where the yellow went...." as I put the toothpaste on the brush. Some damage seems to be permanent.
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    Then there was the Guiness commercial: The old guy takes a big suck on a Guiness then says:

    "It looks good, it tastes good, and by golly it does you good."

    That was taken off the air when the British Advertising Standards Authority decreed that it was false advertising, perhaps drinking beer did not do you good.

    I wonder what became of such standards?
  • msrobotsmsrobots Posts: 3,709
    Actually, @Heater, them authorities did a good job.

    Honestly. Who wants to drink Guinness in the first place. Being German I seriously have problems with beer in America. Not drinkable. But British beer is even worse.
    I visited the UK twice. First time as a exchange student, a couple of days in London, then some 'time' in Inverness, then some days in London again. I did learn to like that Scottish made brownish fluid at that time. But them beers? Horrible.
    The second time was more funny. My girlfriend at that time was a stewardess. So we could get quite cheap flights to any place. We visited the UK once together.. But still. Beer is not something the UK is good at.
    Same goes for food. I am usually not picky about food. As long as it not try to leave my plate while I am eating, I usually eat it.
    But Porridge in the morning and pork pies really did it to me. No way to sustain on.
    So I lived for a while of fish and chips. Almost eatable at least.

    The British cuisine is not really known by itself. Sure them curry's and stews out of India are nice but not British. Short (TL;DR) Them British folks do not know what food or drinks are supposed to taste.
    And I guess you know that. I never visited Finland, they have weird food too. But hopefully better then pork pies. And I am very sure your taste buds have developed being away from the UK. Hopefully!
    To try to get somehow back to the original topic I am sort of lame, but I think the worst failure is that food gets advertised with very wrong reasons.

    Sad!
    Mike
     


    .


  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    Mike,
    Your last comment is bordering o being Moderated. See Forum Rules: 
    "Negative discussion of other members:Do not ridicule other members of the Parallax Discussion Forums or otherwise make them feel uncomfortable. Bickering, mockery, bullying, and all other imaginable forms of negative social interactions will not be tolerated as it detracts from the intended purpose of these forums. Negative discussion will be met with moderation."
  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    Oh, good Lord!!

    Language wars, food fights, what has become of this place?!?!?!?!?
    :lol:



  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    I have been fortunate to have been exposed to foods from many cultures and regions, and have been willing to try almost any dish. Many of them were considered great delicacies locally. Most ranged from excellent to good, and a few I would never touch again. The old saw of "one mans junk is another mans treasure" applies equally well to foods.
  • User NameUser Name Posts: 1,451
    edited 2015-07-20 07:58
    Sometimes, what was once one man's junk may become the same man's treasure. :)

    I recall a particular cherry pie manufacturer who used tapioca as a thickener.  I despised those pies and the nitwit who had concocted such a ridiculous recipe.  Now I regard it as the best cherry pie in the world and one of my all-time favorite deserts.

    Regarding Phil's original post: Amazon used book sellers are largely on the honor system when they rate a book's condition.  I've ordered "good" books that turned out to be practically new, and I've ordered "nearly new" books that were in awful condition.  I've grown wiser over the years.  Now I weigh more heavily the seller's rating than the book's purported condition.
  • markmark Posts: 252
    Every microwaved dinner from my experience. Removing the tray from the colorful colorful box displaying a gourmet meal leads to instant depression. It's sort of like unwrapping a christmas present when you were a kid that ended up being socks or underwear. 
  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    edited 2015-07-21 20:19
    • Sometimes, what was once one man's junk may become the same man's treasure.
    • I
      recall a particular cherry pie manufacturer who used tapioca as a
      thickener.  I despised those pies and the nitwit who had concocted such a
      ridiculous recipe.  Now I regard it as the best cherry pie in the world
      and one of my all-time favorite deserts.
    Tastes do change and broaden to include a wider range of food and drink as we grow older. As a teenager I would never have eaten what are now some of my favorite foods.
    • Regarding Phil's
      original post: Amazon used book sellers are largely on the honor system
      when they rate a book's condition.  I've ordered "good" books that
      turned out to be practically new, and I've ordered "nearly new" books
      that were in awful condition.  I've grown wiser over the years.  Now I
      weigh more heavily the seller's rating than the book's purported
      condition.
    Caveat emptor still applies, especially when buying from unknown sources online. Even selling something online or through an ad can be problematic.

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