Is It True?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5ckwBMpJ-A

Chapter 1: From Sake Oil to Emu Oil

Edessa Brown & Wivine Ngongo

Purpose

Give you a better idea of the types of spins and deceptions that are out there today along with illustrative examples of each and comparisons to 1984 and Language Awareness

Preview

Introduction Article’s Content

Contemporary Examples Connection to 1984 Connection to Language Awareness

Lipoway Weight Loss TV Commercial Closing

Two Spins, Two Deceptions

Commercial spins Political spins

Direct deception Implied deception

RECOGNIZE THAT IT’S THERE!

Commercial Spins

Claims and promises in advertisement that seem too good to be true

Assume that it may not be all that it says it is

CompaniesBusinesses

Make a profit

In other words…

Deception is Highly Profitable

Unrealistic fast results Obvious over modified Photoshop images Unheard of or rare products from

unknown companiesTOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!

Yet, people buy!

You too can have a body like mine…

Deception Is True, But Misleading…

Free credit report ads are catchy and appear to be quite promising

Your ability to view your credit score for free is true, but only for the time being

To monitor your credit on freecreditreport.com it will cost you $15 a month

Consumers were unaware of this due to no disclaimers on the free credit report website or television advertisement

Deception Can Cost Lives Yasmin Birth Control, Yaz, or Ocella Birth

Control

“Can the pill be good for you? Can you feel OK when you're on it? Is it doing anything positive for you besides preventing an unwanted pregnancy? The answer to all these questions is yes!”

Not really! There has been reported claims of serious injury…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6yzrMmIZ04

Political Spins

Deliver even bigger doses of

deception

Political deceivers often times imply

their falsehoods rather than stating

them outright

Otherwise known as implied deception…

Politicians have a legal right to lie

Direct Deception

The Claim: In the third Presidential debate in 2000, Bush stated that he supported a “Patients’ Bill of Rights” allowing patients to sue HMOs and insurance companies.

The Facts: Bush never signed to a right-to-sue law, and actively opposed it. He even vetoed a patient's bill of rights.

In other words, nothing in Bush’s claim was true and voters were deceived and supported Bush’s false claims.

Implied Deception

Bush: “To keep family farms in the family, we’re going to get rid of the death tax.”

Under then-current law, estate taxes only applied to estates valued over $675,000, and spouses could inherit estates of any size, tax-free.

Although his claim was true:▪ Bush’s proposal affected the wealthy▪ It did not affect farmers

Recognize that its there

Fend for ourselves

Connection to 1984

Politicians have a legal right to lie So does the Inner Party Inner Party was full of lies that were

otherwise claimed true. People outside of the party was

cheated and lied to, but there was nothing they could do about it.

Part 1, Chapter 4, Page 39

“As short a time ago as February, the Ministry of Plenty had issued a promise (a 'categorical pledge' were the official words) that there would be no reduction of the chocolate ration during 1984. Actually, as Winston was aware, the chocolate ration was to be reduced from thirty grams to twenty at the end of the present week. All that was needed was to substitute for the original promise a warning that it would probably be necessary to reduce the ration at some time in April.”

Examples of Deception

Direct deception “Categorical pledge”

Definite, clear-cut, inflexible vow The inner party directly lied to the

public when they said that the chocolate ration would no longer be lowered.

Examples of Deception cont.

Implied deception “Substitute for the original promise” Used implied deception when they

said that it would be necessary to reduce the ration.

This statement was true but misleading because it lead people to believe it was for the best.

Reducing the chocolate ration wasn’t “necessary.”

Deception Is Highly Profitable

Victory Gin, Victory Coffee, and Victory Cigarettes were provided by the party. Otherwise known as “Victory Products”

Available in London after World War II, when “conditions made it impossible for people to obtain anything better.”

For all Winston knew, this could have been another lie for profit.

Connection to Language Awareness

Weasel Words Creates an impression that something

specific and meaningful has been said.

“…advertisers have learned to weasel-word their

commercials so that their claims are literally accurate but still misleading.”

Weasel Words Examples

New and Improved!“A great new look!” – Advertisement

for Brawny Paper Towels

Helps“Activia helps naturally regulate your digestive system.”

Virtually“Is it possible for laser hair removal to be virtually painless? YES!” – Ave Laser Hair Removal

Like“Makes wrinkles almost invisible to the naked eye!...It is possible your wrinkles will no longer even exist.” – Deception Wrinkle-Cheating Cream

Weasel Words In Lipoway Weight Loss TV Commercial

Safe with virtually no calories

Could reduce your food intake by up to 80%

Anything that’s free isn’t “best quality”

Now What?

Deception is everywhere; it always was and it always will.

We voters and consumers must pretty much fend for ourselves if we know what’s good for us.

You will see how in the following presentations!

Works Cited

Keating, Gina. "Dannon sued over 'probiotic' bacteria claims ." Letter.       Reuters. Thomas Reuters, 23 Jan. 2008. Web. 7 Feb. 2010.       <http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN237176420080124>.

Neff, Jack. "Brawny and Bounty in Legal Squabble Over Paper-Towel Patterns ." Editorial. Advertising Age. Crain Communications, 12 May 2009. Web. 7 Feb. 2010. <http://adage.com/adages/post?article_id=136596>.

"Section V." PinkMonkey.com. Barron's Booknotes, 13 Nov. 2005. Web. 7 Feb. 2010. <http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/barrons/198423.asp>.

Sreenivasan, Harry. "'Free Credit Report' Ads Mislead Consumers." Editorial.       CBS Evening News. CBS Interactive Inc. , 22 Nov. 2009. Web. 7 Feb. 2010.       <http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/22/eveningnews/main57394

90.shtml>.

Works Cited cont.

Orwell, George. "Part 1, Chapter 4." The Complete Works of George Orwell. N.p.,       2003. <http://www.george-orwell.org/1984/3.html>. Rpt. in The       Complete Works of George Orwell. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag.       www.george-orwell.com. Web. 7 Feb. 2010.       <http://www.george-orwell.org/1984/3.html>.

  Wechsler, Stephen. "The Pragmatics of Political Deception." UT Linguistic

Dept.,       15 Oct. 2004. <http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~wechsler/       PoliticalDeceptionHandout.pdf>. Rpt. in UT Linguistic Circle. N.p.:       n.p., n.d. N. pag. uts.cc.utexas.edu. Web. 7 Feb. 2010.       <http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~wechsler/PoliticalDeceptionHandout.pdf>.

  Zain, Bes. "The World of Virtually, Virtually “Virtually” Word." 9 Apr. 2009.

The Reasoner. Web. 7 Feb. 2010. <http://thereasoner.com/articles/general/the-world-of-virtually-virtually-virtually-word>