4 ms·

I would say there is a difference between people and companies. You saying twice as big is different from Hummer saying it. They should know the dimensions of t

by sh1mmer 18y ago

I would say there is a difference between people and companies. You saying twice as big is different from Hummer saying it. They should know the dimensions of their vehicles. Secondly I think that making a claim that was reasonably rounded up or is conservative is much more reasonable than making a bold claim and then under delivering. Saying "My patented snake oil cures cancer" and then claiming anyone who believes you is an idiot, is a pretty flippant argument. If the iPhone 3G had a 1.89x bandwidth capacity for example then the 2x claim might be reasonable.

jm4 18y ago
I think the key thing here is the difference between marketing materials and facts. Marketing materials may be going for a certain tone or theme that may not coincide with fact. They exaggerate a little. They take certain liberties when describing a product or use common figures of speech that are not intended to be taken literally. Marketing materials are intended to be the hook to get consumers interested. Take alcohol or cigarrette advertisements for example. There's always a guy out partying with a bunch of hot women. Are we to believe that if we start drinking cheap American beer or smoking we're going to have to beat the girls off with a stick? When a car dealer tells you a car is a pussy magnet is that supposed to be taken seriously? Of course, those things _could_ happen, but they probably won't. I guess the conclusion is that marketing materials are all about the possibilities but not necessarily the outcome that should be expected from buying a product. And right or wrong, marketing materials are clearly not held to the same standards as something purported to be fact.
- scott_s 18y ago
  Marketing can not make false claims. Claims such as "this car will get you laid" can not be falsified. Claims such as "this car can go 0-60 in 3 seconds" can be falsified. I think "twice as fast" fits with a falsifiable claim. It's a figure of speech as well, but I'd rather err on the side of protecting consumers. If a company claims something is "twice as fast," it had better be, by some metric, twice as fast.
  - jm4 18y ago
    You're absolutely right. But in the case of "twice as fast", if it is twice as fast under the right conditions then it's not exactly a false claim. Maybe the right condition for the phone being twice as fast is being within a short distance of a cell tower. The fact that at any given time a user likely won't be within that distance is certainly deceptive in that it doesn't present the entire truth, but it's going to be extremely difficult to prove it's a false claim.
    - sh1mmer 18y ago
      In that case why dispute the claim? Or at least why not add small print to clarify the point to a layman that performance varies.
    - scott_s 18y ago
      The FTC disallows deceptive advertising as well: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/policystmt/ad-decept.htm http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/policystmt/ad-decept.htm

by sh1mmer 18y ago

jm4 18y ago

I think the key thing here is the difference between marketing materials and facts. Marketing materials may be going for a certain tone or theme that may not coincide with fact. They exaggerate a little. They take certain liberties when describing a product or use common figures of speech that are not intended to be taken literally. Marketing materials are intended to be the hook to get consumers interested. Take alcohol or cigarrette advertisements for example. There's always a guy out partying with a bunch of hot women. Are we to believe that if we start drinking cheap American beer or smoking we're going to have to beat the girls off with a stick? When a car dealer tells you a car is a pussy magnet is that supposed to be taken seriously? Of course, those things _could_ happen, but they probably won't. I guess the conclusion is that marketing materials are all about the possibilities but not necessarily the outcome that should be expected from buying a product. And right or wrong, marketing materials are clearly not held to the same standards as something purported to be fact.

scott_s 18y ago
Marketing can not make false claims. Claims such as "this car will get you laid" can not be falsified. Claims such as "this car can go 0-60 in 3 seconds" can be falsified. I think "twice as fast" fits with a falsifiable claim. It's a figure of speech as well, but I'd rather err on the side of protecting consumers. If a company claims something is "twice as fast," it had better be, by some metric, twice as fast.
- jm4 18y ago
  You're absolutely right. But in the case of "twice as fast", if it is twice as fast under the right conditions then it's not exactly a false claim. Maybe the right condition for the phone being twice as fast is being within a short distance of a cell tower. The fact that at any given time a user likely won't be within that distance is certainly deceptive in that it doesn't present the entire truth, but it's going to be extremely difficult to prove it's a false claim.
  - sh1mmer 18y ago
    In that case why dispute the claim? Or at least why not add small print to clarify the point to a layman that performance varies.
  - scott_s 18y ago
    The FTC disallows deceptive advertising as well: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/policystmt/ad-decept.htm http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/policystmt/ad-decept.htm