Fear & Exaggeration as Sales Tools

[win231]

An example: Ever heard of "Car Shield?" It's a warranty you pay for every month in case you need car repairs (similar to those home warranties). In tiny print that's too small to read, are many exclusions (of course). The ad lists several expensive car repairs like a new engine or transmission, along with scary prices. And people in the ad say, "Once your car warranty expires, it's too late."
Yeah....."If you don't get vaccinated, you'll make others sick, or you could get sick & die. In fact, so many people are dying of Covid, we had to have refrigerated meat trucks brought in to store the bodies."
And, "I think everybody should have Car Shield." "Everybody should get vaccinated."
My favorite quote: "When something goes wrong with your car....AND IT WILL....Car Shield will be there to back you up." (Uh......except for that long list of exclusions you don't want us to read).
"Breakthrough Covid infections are rare."
"Only the unvaccinated are getting Covid."
"Even if you get Covid, the vaccine will prevent you from getting very sick."
"Protect yourself & others. Get vaccinated."
The "Car Shield" ad has run many times, which means they're paying for it, so there must be sufficient frightened non thinkers who don't realize one simple fact: Like any insurance company, the only way they can make a profit is if they make more money on premiums than they spend on people's car repairs.
So, fear & exaggeration do work.....for some.

 

[Aunt Bea]

Fear and exaggeration can be used effectively on both sides of an issue.

We see that quite often in our current events discussions.

“It is when we have made the ‘fear of fear’ the thing that we fear that we are no longer living in fear, rather we are living in the exaggeration of fear.” - Craig D. Lounsbrough

 

[OneEyedDiva]

I think some of the tactics used in advertising should be illegal...but alas, they are not. And yup...better read the fine print. Now if you can just tell them to stop calling me about my car's expiring warranty....ya know, the car that I don't have.

 

[Judycat]

For me, complications from Covid are something I fear. My car breaking down doesn't come close to having my lungs stiffen with fibrosis. Just sayin'. May never happen, but ya I'll take the vaccine if it might keep me out of the hospital. Don't want to go there

 

[win231]

For me, complications from Covid are something I fear. My car breaking down doesn't come close to having my lungs stiffen with fibrosis. Just sayin'. May never happen, but ya I'll take the vaccine if it might keep me out of the hospital. Don't want to go there

More power to ya. I have NO problem with people who choose to get the vaccine. I've driven elderly friends to get their vaccine.
I have a problem with people who try to convince everyone else to get the vaccine - usually to bolster their shaky confidence in it.

 

[horseless carriage]

More power to ya. I have NO problem with people who choose to get the vaccine. I've driven elderly friends to get their vaccine.
I have a problem with people who try to convince everyone else to get the vaccine - usually to bolster their shaky confidence in it.

So far I have kept well away from the argument to have, or not have, covid19 immunisation. Whilst being inoculated helps towards protection, enforcing vaccination on everyone goes against the tenet of a democratic society.

It was with much trepidation when I had my two vaccinations because as a young man, I was off to Morocco for a couple of weeks. A country that had still not, at that time, eradicated TB. My TB vaccination made me so seriously ill that my father called for an ambulance. Perhaps it was the strength of youth but within 48 hours I had completely recovered but it was an experience that I never forgot.

The argument that everyone should receive the vaccine is simple enough, non vaccinated people are at greater risk not only of being infected by covid19, they can also continue to spread it. But then again, we know the dangers of smoking tobacco, the damage that it causes, the cost of the subsequent health care, yet smoking, and smokers, are still allowed.

If there's a solution to the problem about vaccination as in whether to have it or not, I don't have the answer. I do, however, have an empathy towards the non vaccinated simply because some British retail outlets have used the corona virus as a way of refusing to trade with cash, arguing that coins and bank notes spread the disease. They will only accept card or electronic payment. To which I say: "Your loss."

 

[win231]

So far I have kept well away from the argument to have, or not have, covid19 immunisation. Whilst being inoculated helps towards protection, enforcing vaccination on everyone goes against the tenet of a democratic society.

It was with much trepidation when I had my two vaccinations because as a young man, I was off to Morocco for a couple of weeks. A country that had still not, at that time, eradicated TB. My TB vaccination made me so seriously ill that my father called for an ambulance. Perhaps it was the strength of youth but within 48 hours I had completely recovered but it was an experience that I never forgot.

The argument that everyone should receive the vaccine is simple enough, non vaccinated people are at greater risk not only of being infected by covid19, they can also continue to spread it. But then again, we know the dangers of smoking tobacco, the damage that it causes, the cost of the subsequent health care, yet smoking, and smokers, are still allowed.

If there's a solution to the problem about vaccination as in whether to have it or not, I don't have the answer. I do, however, have an empathy towards the non vaccinated simply because some British retail outlets have used the corona virus as a way of refusing to trade with cash, arguing that coins and bank notes spread the disease. They will only accept card or electronic payment. To which I say: "Your loss."

The problem is that the argument that everyone should receive the vaccine is NOT simple. Your experience with the TB vaccination is a clear indication that the argument is not simple.
We can expect to be told that non vaccinated people are at greater risk of being infected with Covid & they can also spread it. That ain't simple, either. There wouldn't be so many breakthrough infections if it was simple. And they wouldn't have admitted that the vaccine does not prevent transmission to others if it was simple.

 

[ohioboy]

I think some of the tactics used in advertising should be illegal...but alas, they are not.

Exaggeration of a saleman's product to, well, puff it up, is known as "Puffing" in the legal sense. The courts have ruled on it. It may be a fine line between protected puffing and deception/consumer fraud issues, etc. "My product is the best in the world" is an example of Puffing.

 

[win231]

Exaggeration of a saleman's product to, well, puff it up, is known as "Puffing" in the legal sense. The courts have ruled on it. It may be a fine line between protected puffing and deception/consumer fraud issues, etc. "My product is the best in the world" is an example of Puffing.

I learned about the term "Puffing" on episodes of Judge Judy that involved used car sales. The plaintiff always says, "He told me the car was in great shape." Judy said, "That's Puffing; of course he wanted you to buy what he's selling. You should have had a mechanic check the car."