If the woman is stupid, she's a very common kind of stupid. Celebrities sell and endorse products because people buy stuff that's pushed by celebrities (they believe what celebrities say). As an advertising strategy it works, Which makes everyone who has ever bought a product because it was endorsed, marketed or even allegedly used by a celebrity that same kind of stupid.
Sadly, I have been that kind of stupid in my life (mostly in my teens and twenties, but I can't say that I've never been swayed by a celebrity endorsement more recently).
I've never considered suing, because I recognized that each time I fell for it, I had been stupid to believe the claims in the first place (but for a long time, it didn't make me less susceptible to the next one).
Sadly, for many years, I didn't even speak up when friends talked about trying the same products. I didn't want to admit that I was so stupid as to have tried them. I didn't want to admit it, because I secretly feared that the product was wonderful - it was I who was broken (that I never had a friend succeed any better than I had, should have been a tip of that the product wasn't effective, but it never made me feel any better).
Product after product after product, I eventually learned that all the celebrity-endorsed crap is just that CRAP. But when you voice that out loud, someone accuses you of being jealous of the celebrity, or bitter because the product didn't work for you - or that you're stupid because you didn't realize that exercise in diet had to be involved (and they never believe you about how hard you're working - they only see how badly you've failed).
Advertising is powerful, and false claims should not be protected. If you can't deliver the promise you make or imply, you should be held accountable. Maybe eventually advertisers would stop making promises they can't keep. And I'm not at all impressed with television ads in which fine print disclaimers flash that are too tiny, and pass by too quickly for most people to read, that essentially say "you can't sue us, because you should know that we're lying."
It's like the child's game of crossed fingers behind the back. A lie is a lie no matter how you say it, and whether or not you warn people not to believe you.
Most people are too ashamed for making the mistake to sue - but that only makes diet product sellers bolder. They know that being a celebrity (or using a celebrity endorsement) has a powerful influence on consumers - and that because most people will be too embarassed to sue, they're pretty safe. Even if a few people sue and win - the marketers remain confident in the fact that the embarassed majority will keep their mouths shut out of shame. The customer's pride is worth more than their money - and companies that sell diet products are banking on that (literally).
Last edited by kaplods; 05-06-2010 at 12:40 AM.
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