We are bombarded by advertisements on a daily basis; we see them on the T.V, hear them over the radio, view them on our Facebook pages, people call up at all odd hours trying to sell a superlative service or an ingenious product. I have nothing against this form of capitalism. I appreciate the entrepreneurship that prompts companies to make ads so they can convince us to spend our hard earned money. But what I find unforgivable is when the products are advertised misleadingly. Most of us have encountered some form of exaggeration and as consumers are almost expecting it. But many of us have had the misfortune of being completely duped.  Pictures of beautiful hotels on the Internet, that turn out to be dilapidated houses that should have been torn down decades ago are not an uncommon story.

There are many ways in which the average consumer is fooled. While some advertisements are blatant lies, many of them are more subtle but misleading all the same. A common false advertising technique is what I call dream packaging. It’s called this because the producers must be in some sort of dream if they think their product looks anything like what they’ve shown on the packaging. Take a look at the picture depicted for ‘Hacksteaks” home cooked meal

http://www.google.ca/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&tbo=d&tbm=isch&tbnid=EAtc6bl-KcTdWM:&imgrefurl=http://thebrandbuilder.blogspot.com/2008/03/promise-vs-reality-visual-journey-of.html&docid=XynqaEcpTT6-VM&imgurl=http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_k9pcZkVuAoI/R-xv_uUKJoI/AAAAAAAABhw/J0Mru1Cu-Jc/s400/projekt1_alacarte-hacksteak.jpg&w=400&h=130&ei=b_75UOT7IMazigLn9oH4BQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=649&vpy=22&dur=965&hovh=104&hovw=320&tx=174&ty=30&sig=113378088785981590653&page=2&tbnh=87&tbnw=242&start=18&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:34,s:0,i:189&biw=1162&bih=539

Looking at the package, you just can’t wait to grab this box from the shelf, pop it in the microwave and watch a football match while biting into the mouth-watering and juicy steaks.

Then you open the package and realize you should have bought at least five more of them to satiate your hunger. The two miniscule steaks in a sea of watered down gravy just doesn’t do it for us anymore. It’s really an art if we look at it in an optimistic way; the creator must have a great imagination and flawless Photoshop skills to be able to depict that on the package.