Lobbies:Truth in Advertising

“Eight of ten people, in a study, said that Brand X can give you ----.”
And, as a friend of mine put it, “The study was conducted by his brother; his sister; and a host of cousins.”

How many times have people heard claims like that on TV? All marketers emphasize the superiority of their product over their competition. That is fine; after all, it is what advertising is supposed to do—sell. My beef is with the downright scams in advertising.

Take for example, the Acai Berry, a plant that is supposed to make you lose weight very rapidly. If the FDA has not approved it, why is it on the market? Especially, why should it make such unsubstantiated claims? Am I crazy? Shouldn’t there be laws against blatant dishonest claims? The Acai Berry maybe the least innocuous of marketing products; other Ads can be harmful, and even downright dangerous; yet, they are allowed to continue. Pharmaceutical companies after all sell billions of dollars worth of medicine, and for the most part, these companies offer tremendous services to the human race. They spend time and resources, and should get their just rewards. My beef is not with that; my beef is with Ads that sell nothing but lies to gullible folks.

It all comes down to lobbies. We are apparently a government of the lobbies, by the lobbies, and for the lobbies. The word lobby, as used by us in the US, is wonderfully euphemistic. Corruption is taking bribes or furthering the cause of your immediate family or friends: furthering the cause of a particular group is perfectly legitimate, as long as they are a registered lobby. The stronger the lobby, the greater the influence, the greater contribution to a party or a person’s political ambitions. Is this not corruption?

“Pshaw! You are indeed naive,” said my friend. “No, it is perfectly permissible, because the law allows it.”

“But the legislators, through money paid into their campaigns, are ones who might have benefited from these companies. Thus, their decision could be tainted at best; or worse, deliberately biased, because they have been paid for—one way or the other.”

I could see that I was going nowhere with my friend, so I ask you:

Shouldn’t the government put a stop to such dishonest marketing? My feeling is that when they don’t, it raises red flags; when they don’t, we lose our trust and faith in the government. When the Senators and Congressmen and Congresswomen realize the rights of the people; and when they legislate accordingly, then only will the people think of the government as for, off, and by the people. We have lost our trust in the government, because it is not our government, but a government of the lobbies.

Am I crazy or do you see it the same way? Talk to me!!

Riaz Sahibzada