After reading Weasel Words by William Lutz, it really made me reflect and think about all the advertisements I have seen in my life that have misled me because of weasel words. I agree with what the author was saying about how weasel words cause confusion or false advertisement to an individual, and I believe that this confusion is intended for individuals to buy products. A perfect example that I think relates to how weasel words mislead individuals, is the advertisement that Subway had a few years ago, that talked about a diet that a man named Jared had. The diet said that Jared, “only ate subway sandwiches” and lost over 200 pounds. The weasel word, ‘only’ is misleading, because Jared also drank diet soda, ate chips, ate only certain sandwiches that were considered healthy (vegetarian, not tuna) and exercised. Consumers then went to Subway to buy sandwiches to follow the diet that Jared had, because they thought they too could loose a lot of weight. This is an example, like Lutz said in his article, about how advertisements use weasel words to mislead consumers into what they think a product sells. I think that in order for advertisers to continue to sell there products, they need to use these types of weasel words which is unfortunate because it creates false accusations surrounding the products.
-Chelsea Schoenberg
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3 comments:
I agree with your view that subway is a weasel word. People go to subway because they think it will make them skinny and is a healthy choice. It is a healthier choice than McDonald's, but the sandwiches alone won't make one skinny. Subway leaves out the fact that one has to exercise and eat a healthy diet and subway may fulfill eating healthy depending on what one orders.
the above comment was by sarah swift
This is a great example of how weasel words are used. I just youtubed some of the commercials and aafter they talk about losing weight by eating it they also use words like mouth watering which doesn't really make you want to lose weight. It's a very good technique of saying how it can help you lose weight and also attributes to the desire to eat more of it.
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