ADVERTISEMENTS have become powerful marketing tools. They prove indispensable in building and empowering brands. Businesses everywhere have embraced advertising because brands have become critical in the highly competitive business environment we are all familiar with.
In fact, it would not be wrong to suggest that advertising has been a major factor driving global consumerism.
Some have even blamed excessive advertising for the unsustainable consumption patterns in many developed economies. The developing economies are, nonetheless, following suit.
If we are not careful, experts warn that at the rate the rising global population is consuming, we may soon need more planets to supply the resources that fuel our survival.
There is no doubt that advertising is highly effective in persuading change in consumer tastes. That explains why the advertising industry continues to be a growing global business.
Though many advertisements preach messages based on evidence, a big number exaggerate. Some have been proven to be outright lies. These are the ones that promise things that the products cannot deliver on.
However, consumers are easily influenced. Many have described a majority of consumers as being gullible and easily swayed by claims made in advertisements. It is not just the uneducated who fall prey to such ads, with even the well-informed being easily persuaded, too.
Through the creativity of advertising professionals, most of the messages that appear in ads come across as believable. Consumers are, therefore, easily bought.
In many developed countries, the messages in advertisements are closely monitored. All claims must be supported by scientifically proven evidence. Otherwise, the companies can be held liable.
In the United States, for example, product liability is strictly enforced. There have been cases where companies have been taken to court over misleading claims.
Take the edible oil business, for example. Companies are prohibited from advertising their products as being cholesterol-free, just on account of the products not containing cholesterol in them. This is because edible oils, when taken exceeding a certain amount, can raise one’s blood cholesterol level.
Therefore, if a company claims that its edible oil is cholesterol-free, it is considered to be misleading, and the company is liable.
Unfortunately, here, advertisements are not adequately controlled. Many claims are misleading.
We hear many such promotions on television and radio. Without being backed up by scientifically derived evidence, most health products promise to be a cure-all.
The same applies to cosmetics. Whitening and slimming products are especially aggressive in their advertised claims.
Some companies are known to resort to using harmful substances to ensure their products’ effectiveness. Hazardous chemicals have been detected time and again in such products. These include steroids and heavy metals, such as mercury.
Such toxic chemicals have long-term chronic effects on users’ health. On most occasions, however, they go unnoticed.
The reasons are obvious. Most, if not all, companies selling such products are marketing businesses. They do not manufacture the products themselves, with a majority simply sourcing the products from wholesale manufacturers and suppliers. Many others are imported.
The worry is that most of these marketing companies do not have the facilities to carry out their own quality checks. What they do is just repack the products and stamp on their brands.
There have been cases where harmful substances and even banned items were detected in such products. The ones who bear the brunt of the abuse are consumers.
It is time that we create a more dependable mechanism to check on these abuses. In view of the thousands of products that have flooded the market, it is unwise to leave the task of random checking to the enforcement arm of the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry.
What we need is a well-equipped independent laboratory, where spot checks can be conducted on products sold in the market. The lab should be run by a non-governmental entity.
With regards to the many unjustified claims of cure-all products, businesses promoting such claims should be required to produce evidence on the efficacy of their products. Otherwise, they should be made liable.
We must remember that becoming a developed nation is not only about high income, but is also very much about looking after the interests of consumers, especially regarding matters related to health.
Dr Ahmad Ibrahim is a fellow at Academy of Sciences Malaysia
