THE END IS COMING AT A DISCOUNT!

The signs are everywhere: Minimum-waged employees holding double-tiered vertical signs proclaiming “The Final Days – 30%-50% Off Everything.” It seems unavoidable these days. At many street corners, you see these harbingers of doom ‑ a grim reminder of the state of the economy and the ongoing job losses. Certainly, the face of the business landscape has changed. Peppered in with these signs are similar banners with wording that might fit comfortably in the same message. What is different with these signs is that their stores have made a profitable business by going out of business. And in some cases, this has lasted for years. It used to be that there was truth in advertising. While the legislation still exists demanding that standard, the ability to enforce it has faded. Commerce has made gains in sales through the dubious expansion of truth. Disclaimers printed in subhuman font size offer the missing bits of information the consumer may legally need. “This product may cause gastric intolerance and death. Consult your physician.” Likewise, with television disclaimers mumbled off at high speed, the hope is that the enamored consumer will focus on the “Extenzed” benefits of the product rather than its shortfalls. I know of at least two stores in the county that are now into their fifth year of going out of business. Consumers have become jaded to claims and expectations, stuck between their addiction to commerce and their distaste for the lies that comprise advertising claims. Anti-aging product advertising offers the extremes as well. Here is a patch that will remove all those wrinkles by direct deposit of the miracle compound, with some miracle name like “beautificol” with results visible in just two days. Of course, the product costs a lot of money and requires multiple treatments with an average result of better moisturized skin and not much more. Spackle is cheaper and could have the same claim: “Smoothes wrinkles, evens out facial contours with a Botox-like effect without the injections or cost. And it comes with a convenient facial applicator. If you order now, we will even include a free book – how to fix your face while you are fixing your house.” The vitamin and supplement industry have known this bonanza sales marketing practice for many years, offering two for one bottles of unregulated compounds that are packed with “mega” everything, even if doctors tell you that most will be flushed away with your next bathroom visit. The lure and the claims are just too strong. Marketing departments are just too clever. And the consumer logic is that if even one percent of the advertised claim turns out to be true, they would be ahead of the game. It used to be that television and movie celebrities endorsing a product had to be using the product in order to make the claims.  When I watch Robert Wagner or James Garner peddling reverse mortgages or other celebrities pushing products of questionable value, I wonder just how the average consumer is supposed to discern the truth. Or did  advertising become a numbers game where a certain percentage of the population will get ripped off or harmed by the claims while the rest believe whatever they will about the effectiveness of the product? How many products have we each purchased only to discard after a failed trial, chalking it up to our own gullibility? Perhaps the ultimate claim of truth comes in the courtroom, where each person takes an oath to “tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” There was a time when society had a far higher degree of integrity, when a simple pledge had meaning. Today’s version should be adjusted. “Do you agree to tell the truth, the whole truth, some variation of the truth, statements with some truthful elements in it until we find that you have been less than truthful?” The end is closer than we think. Life is already valued at 30 percent to 70 percent off its full retail value and rapidly falling. I don’t want to deal with it that way.   MisterWriter originally printed in the Clayton Pioneer 4/24/09