Is There Any Truth in Advertising?

Madison Foulkes
mf578016@ohio.edu

From phones to computers to televisions, consumers are constantly bombarded with advertisements everywhere they look. However, behind the flashy images and catchy jungles, the products and services aren't always what they seem to be.

Consumers cannot avoid advertising and most advertisers do whatever it takes to grab a consumer's attention anyway. According to Daniella Alscher, a content marketing associate for G2, false advertising is "a false, misleading, or deceptive statement about a product or service being sold in an advertisement."

An example of a bait and switch advertisement(Source: Google Images).

Advertisers are often caught for making scientific claims about products lasting longer or giving results that aren't true. For example, Activia yogurt said it had "special bacterial ingredients." The yogurt was said to contain ingredients that were proven to help digestions. Although these claims were made and the price was increased by 30% compared to their other types of yogurt, the claims were found to be unproven.

Similarly, Kellogg's Rice Krispies cereal was said to book your immune system. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ordered Kellogg to stop advertising the product as immunity improving because the claim was "dubious." Kellogg agreed to pay $2.5 million to consumers affected by this advertisement and donated $2.5 million in Kellogg products to charity.

Advertisers use a variety of techniques to take advantage of consumers. Most of the time, advertisements operate on conscious and subconscious tracks of the brain. A majority of our daily tasks take part in the subconscious so when advertisers target this area of the brain, consumers are less likely to notice they are being marketed to.

Some techniques advertisers use to deceive consumers include bait and switch, lying by omission, puffery, quality/origin deception, and hidden fees. Bait and switch is where companies lure consumers into their store by advertising a product they don't intend to sell and then try to sell them a completely different product instead. Lying by omission is one of the most common forms of deceptive advertising. Advertisers remove relevant information so that the more appealing and interesting information remains.

Additionally, quality/origin deception is where a company doesn't disclose harmful information about a product or lying about the quality of something such as being 100% organic when it's not. Puffery includes making statements that are too vague to prove or disprove their correctness. Finally, hidden fees make a product look more enticing because the full price is not disclosed. The FTC states that the full terms and conditions must be clear.

In order to avoid deceptive advertising, make sure you are researching a product efficiently before purchasing. Make sure that you are looking at reliable and trusted sources. If you are doubting the reviews, check out the FTC's website for more information about what to look for in an ad as well as general reports.

In addition, consumers can file complaints to the FTC if they feel they have been deceived by an advertised product or service. They should then contact the Better Business Bureau after contacting the company first. According to Mary Engle, head of the Federal Trade Commission's Advertising Practices Division, if they company is not a fraud, they will try to correct the situation before you take further legal action.

The Revelation of Ugly Truths - Tania Rashid

Meghan Titterington
mt227615@ohio.edu

Tania's Journey

Tania Rashid's journey to filmmaking is an exquisite example of admirable storytelling in journalism. Though Tania's childhood was far from peaceful, the experiences she had involuntarily incited her curiosity about pressing stories that go unnoticed around the world. Rashid is originally from Saudi Arabia but relocated to Bangladesh later on in her childhood with her family - describing her home as a sequestered world consumed of loneliness, corruption and instability. When Tania eventually moved to Utah, she remained trapped in isolation due to a prejudicial society. However, Tania's story is far from over. Her adversities in the Middle East, South Asia and Utah inspired her to attend UCLA where she earned a B.A. in history and global studies in 2007. Following graduation, she began to work for Al Gore's global TV networks, Current TV. This profession immersed her into a community disparate from any others she has ever known; one that encourages collaboration and values integrity. Female pioneers in the industry ignited Rashid's commitment to getting her master's degree at Columbia University for broadcast journalism and documentary.

In the face of misery, Tania cultivated passion. She believed her work in filmmaking could present the world with unique perspectives. Her ability to both adapt and identify with foreign circumstances is unmatched by many journalists in this field. You could argue these skills stem from the societal barriers she was forced to break down at such an early age. However, I would argue that Tania's talent presented her with a purpose in life she could not ignore. Now, Tania Rashid's work is calling attention to demoralizing truths around the globe in an effort to be a voice for the voiceless.

Tania Rashid with Rohingya sex trafficking victim.
Photo courtesy of Tania Rashid's Twitter profile

Sex Trafficking: A Vicious Cycle Among the Vulnerable 

I found this video on Bangladesh sex trafficking disturbing and downright heart wrenching. Rohingya women and girl refugees fall prey to traffickers seeking quick income within the Bangladesh sex trade. These vicious criminals deliberately mutilate women's bodies and self-worth, but at what cost? Pimps claim majority of the profit, leaving victims of rape and violence as low as $1 for compensation. The refugees are so vulnerable to pimps' cruelty because most are extremely impoverished and have no male breadwinner for protection. The twisted inhumanity embodied by this trade is a revolving nightmare for Rohingya refugees merely trying to make ends meet for their family. Women's desperation to escape only makes them more vulnerable to the brutal violence inflicted on them both in and out of the refugee camps. Locating camp brothels is extremely difficult because they look like any other ordinary shelter made from plastic sheets and bamboo. As a result, tens of thousands of refugee women remain imprisoned in trade: a booming business that favors fortune over basic human decency.

Skin Bleaching Scandal: South Africa's Appeal to a "Lighter" Look 

The concept behind skin bleaching is quite troubling to me for numerous reasons. Selling whitening skincare products is illegal and using them is a major health hazard, so what's the attraction? Both men and women living in South Africa agree that the appeal for a "lighter" look is no hoax. Throughout history, people of color had to assimilate in a society that enforced white power and supremacy. The aftermath of white's suppressive authority derived corrupt social ideologies and impossible beauty standards among cultures. South African people are convinced skin bleaching cosmetics enhance their attractiveness and improve their successfulness in life. The desire to fit in seems to take priority over the risk of getting cancer. Professor Ncoza Dlova, a top dermatologist in the area, conducted a study that indicates 90 percent of women bleaching their skin were unaware of the product's harmful components. Mercury, hydroquinone, phenol and corticosteroid are all chemicals infused in these products that cause various destructive side effects - harm to the brain, lungs, heart, immune system and skin.

Tania's coverage of this scandal challenged me to consider the consequences of our racial history on social constructionism with a completely new outlook. My concerns revolve around South Africa's population as a whole. Too many dark-skinned people have exhibited blatant eagerness or previously participated in this potentially fatal trend of lightening their skin to meet the expectations of their former suppressors' social ideologies. This scandal instigated a social conformity frenzy in favor of normalizing the beauty of "light" skin. We will never be able to re-write the wrongs of our past, however journalists are presented with a unique opportunity to reject these disparaging notions and encourage the normalization of dark-skinned beauty.

A Look Inside Toxic Tanneries 

Rashid traveled to Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka to get an inside look on the unbearable work conditions in leather tanneries. Tanneries are typically described as workshops for tanners to process animal hide. That description is only partially true for the Bangladesh leather industry. Bangladesh's tanneries are structured on unimaginable labor maltreatment and contaminated work place environments, resulting in the inevitable exposure to hazardous chemicals. These toxins have the ability to slowly deteriorate the bodies of workers who remain defenseless against such a force. In essence, Bangladesh's leather industry uses human laborers as "opportunity costs" to conserve their billion dollar worth each year. Overall, I find their work place methodology categorically unethical and sadistic.     

Difficult Stories Must Be Told

Devon Stephen
ds708914@ohio.edu
COVERING DIFFICULT STORIES with Tania Rashid

Who is Tania Rashid?

Tania Rashid
Photo courtesy of Tania Rashid's Twitter profile

Tania Rashid is a PBS correspondent and film producer who grew up in Saudi Arabia. She spent the later years of her childhood in Bangladesh, but corruption and political instability led her family to make the move to Utah, USA. Rashid explained that growing up in three very isolating areas inspired her to earn her B.A. in history and global studies at the University of California Los Angeles. Realizing she wanted more from her career, Rashid decided to get her masters in broadcast journalism and take on an additional thesis in filmmaking. To prove herself talented enough for the documentary program, Rashid created a piece that followed the life of an undocumented citizen after being released from detention. After being brought in to the program, Rashid made a piece on her own identity and its many layers—layers she didn’t even realize existed. After two successful theses, it became clear to Rashid that she was meant to use her diverse cultural background, passion for helping others, and skills in journalism to make a difference in lives across the globe.

Although we lead completely different lives, I feel a connection to Rashid’s story. I’m inspired by her efforts to make the world a better place by informing the rest of the world of the injustices and atrocities happening in more isolated areas such as South Africa and Bangladesh. Rashid’s documentary-style journalism is captivating and influential, and I believe all journalism students should watch and listen.

Skin Bleaching Scandal in South Africa | Unreported World

Some of the skin bleaching products sold illegally
in South Africa

Watching Rashid’s journalistic work in the Unreported World documentary on South Africa’s skin bleaching epidemic (2018) was shocking. I watch every episode of The Daily Show, hosted by South African comedian Trevor Noah, and thought I was partially up-to-date on South African issues. When I watched Rashid’s production tonight, I realized I was utterly clueless about what must go on in that part of the world. One of my biggest takeaways from the film was that Rashid uses her own experiences as “a dark-skinned Bangladeshi” to relate to the people in South Africa who are using the skin whitening/ bleaching products. By talking about the social pressures she faced in her own life she was able to add a more personal component to the film. Rashid doesn’t cross ethical boundaries by touching on her own experiences because she only uses them as a reference. To obtain a non-biased perspective for this film, Rashid talks to a college student who actively used skin whitening products. She is able to relate to his desire for a lighter complexion but doesn’t let her own experiences overshadow his opinion or explanations. Furthermore, Rashid goes to the extent of speaking with a South African celebrity who endorsed skin bleaching products. While she speaks gently with the college student using them, her questions for the celebrity endorser are slightly more accusatory. In this documentary Rashid demonstrates her abilities to both empathize with interviewees and refuse to let them off the hook. She recites facts, asks important questions and holds those who should be held responsible for their actions to high ethical standards. The skin bleaching epidemic in South Africa, a region of Africa with a disturbingly racist past and present, is a difficult story to cover. The illegality of the skin whitening and bleaching products only add to the difficulty in getting information from endorsers and shop owners who sell the products. However difficult, Rashid continues to expose the illegal sale of the products and share stories of the inherent and systematic racism which leads to their high number of purchases.

Toxic Tanneries Poisoning Workers in Bangladesh | Vice News

Rashid interviewing a Bangladeshi woman in the
river contaminated by tannery poisons

Toxic Tanneries Poisoning Workers in Bangladesh (2015) shows Rashid in her travel to Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, as she visits the tannery district in one of the most polluted places on Earth—the city’s Hazaribagh neighborhood. There she investigates the conditions in which people producing the leather (worth a billion dollars a year as an industry) work. The documentary shows people, some children, working barefooted in chemicals with containers labeled as highly poisonous. In the first minute of the documentary, Rashid reveals that 90% of workers in the industry die before the age of 50. The industry is also responsible for polluting the country’s water. I found this documentary especially interesting for two seemingly trivial reasons: Rashid’s clothing is culturally respectful and natural, and she is able to use the shared language to communicate with the people she interviews. I believe having reporters who are from the regions, countries or cities where they investigate is crucial in gaining the best understanding and sharing the most accurate information possible. I doubt that the people affected by the water pollution or deadly working conditions would share the same stories with me, a white journalist, as they did with a woman from their country. Watching Rashid explain the sickness the people who live on the river in which the chemicals are dumped turned my stomach and touched my heart. The children she interviewed explained that the fish they catch are sold in markets where everyday people buy them to eat. Seeing the children fishing in boats on the essentially poisonous river filled me with rage—which I believe is the goal of her work. Sharing that story was dangerous because how large-scale the leather industry is. Rashid's ability to get the story out to the public shows her not just her skills in filmmaking, but her ethically valuable dedication to sharing the stories that no one wants to tell.

Pimps and traffickers prey on vulnerable Rohingya girls | PBS News Hour

While the other documentaries Rashid shared with us were upsetting and inspiring of social and political reform, the final documentary on sex trafficking in Bangladesh (2018) was truly disturbing. Rashid explains in the film that Rohingya refugees, mostly girls and women without fathers or husbands, are recruited by men looking to make quick cash in the Bangladeshi sex trade. The girls and women are often poor without means of making money. Each night, Bangladeshi soldiers invade cars and ask young women for identification cards to prove they are Bangladeshi. If the girls are Rohingya, the soldiers ask for the name of their refugee camp leader and force them to exit the vehicle. Within the camps there are brothels, which look the same as ordinary shelters, where sex work goes on. One woman in the documentary started sex work to pay for food for her children. She said she earns two to six dollars for 15 minutes to an hour of sex work.

15-year-old Rohingya sex worker interviewed by Rashid

Another Rohingya sex worker interviewed in the documentary, a 15-year-old girl who fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar, described the violent torture and mutilation of a woman near while in the possession of Myanmar soldiers. The girl was beaten, stabbed, hung from a tree, bitten, gang-raped, stabbed and dumped into a river. Her story is hard to hear, even though we are spared the gruesome details. After surviving the abuse and escaping across the river to Bangladesh, the girl had to sell drugs to earn money to survive. She was caught and made to spend two months in jail. There, she made a friend who was actually a recruiter for the Bangladeshi sex trade. Now, she works seven days a week and earns one dollar per client. On the day of the interview, the girl was gang raped by five men in the same way the Myramar soldiers raped her. Hearing her story made me wonder just how many women are abused, raped, tortured and killed around the world. How many of their stories are told, and how many do we have to hear before we can help them?

Final thoughts

As a journalism student, I found Rashid’s work to be meaningful as well as morally and ethically responsible. As journalists we have a duty to the world to tell stories that are hard to hear. We owe it to both the people who are suffering and the people who could never relate to their pain. I believe we also have a responsibility to make people listen—without being biased. That is a hard line to draw though, isn’t it? Well, not really. Morally, there are universal rights and wrongs. I believe the majority of the world would agree that abuse of power and murder are wrong. Ethically there are rights and wrongs, too. By using journalism and filmmaking to share information, and speaking publicly to rally supporters, Rashid is both morally and ethically garnering attention for her work—work that absolutely should be recognized. By traveling the world to tell stories that are hard to tell, Rashid is doing work that matters. She is sharing stories and building a base on which others can stand to continue this kind of life-saving work.

Pushing Boundaries Through Filmmaking

Covering Tough Stories-Tania Rashid

Meghan McManamon
mm434215@ohio.edu

Photo Courtesy to Tania Rashid's portfolio

MEET TANIA

Tania Rashid is a correspondent and producer that grew up experiencing different cultures living in the Middle East, South Asia, and Utah. After experiencing how different living in these places were for her throughout her younger years, Tania wanted to learn more about history and global studies at UCLA. Realizing that she wanted more out of her career in these fields, she took on filmmaking and got her master's degree in broadcast journalism. After knowing Tania's background and viewing her films, there is one thing that is clear; Tania was born to make a difference and to push boundaries, which is exactly what she is accomplishing through her astounding work in filmmaking.

TOXIC TANNERIES

Toxic Tanneries Poisoning Workers in Bangladesh was an extremely overwhelming film for me to watch. There is a river that runs through the city where many people live. This river is extremely contaminated with chemicals from the nearby tanneries. People that live around the river are very poor and rely on the river in some way, shape, or form in order to make a living for themselves. Many of the young boys will catch fish in the river and sell them to villages and food stands to make a profit. Many of the women rely on reselling much of the trash in the river in order to support their families. Even though the trash and fish are tainted with chemicals, many of the surrounding people say that they rely on the river to make a living and support themselves.

SKIN BLEACHING

Skin Bleaching Scandal in South Africa was a film that Tania produced about skin bleaching in South Africa. I thought this was a very interesting piece for many reasons. To see that people my age in South Africa go to such extremes is very eye-opening. I found it interesting that even though skin bleaching products are outlawed, the majority of stores have no problem restocking on the product and I also find it interesting that these products are in some way tied to cancer and the consumers do not care at all about the health of their skin and body.

SEX TRAFFICKING

The last video I watched, about sex trafficking in Bangladesh, was the most disturbing. The most interesting part of the video was at the very end when Tania interviewed one of the pimps. It became extremely clear that these people are in it for the money. Pimps know that they are corrupting these young girls and know exactly how to persuade them into staying and working for them. Throughout all of these videos, it seems to me that money is the biggest motivator when I was still wondering why people would do these things to themselves. These videos really showed the lengths that these men and women will go in order to support themselves and their loved ones. The implications from all of these stories are clear, but the need for money is greater in their eyes and they feel like they have run out of options.

ETHICS

From an ethical standpoint, the pollution from the tanneries should be dealt with on behalf of the tanneries that are producing all of that pollution. When it comes to skin bleaching, I don’t think that it is ethically responsible to have popular African artists promoting such serious skin bleaching products especially since their long term effects are still unknown. Lastly, the sex trafficking video is ethically wrong in more ways than one. In the video, the pimp mentioned that hotel staff and even members of the army have connections to these trafficking rings and most turn the other cheek when it comes to addressing and fighting the problem.

Easily Bought and Easily Influenced in The World of Social Media

Devon Stephen

Ds708914@ohio.edu

As social media users, we have a sort of responsibility to ourselves to understand that so much of what we see online is altered or altogether unreal. To avoid spending time comparing ourselves to people on social media, or buying products that may not meet their claims, we have to understand that the world of social media is separate from the one in which we live.

On Instagram, celebrities and influencers have photoshopped bodies and, if it means making some coin, use their photos to promote brands or products they may not even use. There was a social media-celebrity uproar in 2016 when the Federal Trade Commission created a regulation that said influencers and celebrities must disclose in their posts whether they were paid for an ad. Disclosing a paid promotion on Instagram or other social media sites can be as simple as including “#ad” or “#paid” at the end of a caption or post. More recently, celebrities and influencers are adding a Paid Partnership label above the photo, where the brand is also tagged.

Khloe Kardashian promoting Flat Tummy Co by using
the Paid Partnership label above her photo

Without the ad disclosure, knowing which celebrity promotions are genuine or biased can get confusing. When Khloe Kardashian posts a photo of herself promoting Flat Tummy Tea, her 99.4 million followers might see her fit figure and conclude that the brand she is promoting is responsible for her look. Several million quick taps on the @flattummyco handle and boom—Flat Tummy Co just made major cash. Without the hashtag or partnered post clarification, do consumers even know what they’re really paying for?

James Charles promoting Sugar Bear Hair vitamins
with the #ad disclosure in an Instagram Story

Now the issue with trusting promotions on social media extends farther than celebrities. Social media marketers called “influencers” are who the public turns to for pre-purchase advice and reviews. James Charles, a 19-year-old beauty influencer with 15.9 million Instagram followers has used the story feature on the photo-sharing app to promote brands such as Sugar Bear Hair, a gummy vitamin brand. In a story promoting Sugar Bear Hair, James placed “#ad” in the top left corner to let his followers know the promotion was paid. However, Charles has also posted content that left followers wondering and leaving comments about whether he was being paid to promote certain products. In his YouTube video “Pinkity Drinkity Makeup + Pupdate!” the influencer used a Starbucks drink as inspiration to create a makeup look for his 16.2 million subscribers without stating whether the video was sponsored.

Aside from the obvious monetary benefits for influencers when it comes to marketing products online, it’s also no wonder why brands want these social giants to back their companies and products. According to the Forbes article “How Social Media Led To The Rise And Fall Of The Fyre Festival”, the fest that never happened was only able to gain such large-scale recognition and excitement because of the way its creators used influencers to market the event. Fyre Festival’s promotional video featured some of the world’s most prominent models, including Bella Hadid and Hailey Bieber. Tech entrepreneur Billy McFarland and his business partner, rapper Ja Rule, paid around 400 influencers and celebrities to post an image of an orange tile to their Instagram accounts with hashtags relating to the festival. Once the social media marketers with millions of followers supported the event, it sold out almost instantly.

Unfortunately, the festival never happened. The creators were so focused on making the idea huge, they didn’t handle any logistics. When ticket-buyers showed up for the festival, nothing they paid for came to fruition. Early arrivers found themselves stranded on a remote island, according to the Forbes article.

One way to ensure people can trust ads—no matter how ambiguous—they see on social media is to place responsibility on brands’ PR teams. PR managers should make sure any influencer their brand or account partners with is honest in their reviews and promotions. If it were to come out publicly that Khloe Kardashian doesn’t actually drink Flat Tummy Tea, or that James Charles doesn’t really use Sugar Bear Hair products, or even that the models who endorsed the Fyre Festival didn’t plan on attending, the brand looks equally as dishonest as the social media marketers. For that reason, employing a PR strategy that includes a commitment to partnering with honest influencers is should be a top priority for brands who market themselves or their products on social media.