Deceit Brings Dishonor to the Worst Ads of ’88
What do Spuds MacKenzie, Mercedes-Benz and the nuclear energy industry have in common?
Bad ads.
At least that was the conclusion by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington consumer lobby that handed out its annual awards Monday for the most misleading advertisements of the past year.
The group calls its competition the “Harlan Page Hubbard Memorial Awards,” which it says are named after the first advertising executive to use deceptive advertising on a national scale. Back in the 1890s, Hubbard concocted national ad campaigns for bottled potions that were advertised as curing everything from backaches to cancer.
Deception in advertising is still with us. It shows up in advertisements for everything from suntan lotion to insurance companies.
Besides those already mentioned, others singled out by the group for airing or publishing the most misleading advertising of the past year include Trans World Airlines, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco, maker of Camel cigarettes; Thompson Medical, maker of Dexatrim; Revlon, maker of Bain de Soleil; the insurance company National Benefit Life, and the toy maker Ohio Art.
The organization times the distribu tion of its specially made trophies of figures holding real lemons to coincide with the advertising industry’s largest self-congratulatory show, the Clio Awards, which also were distributed in New York on Monday.
While thousands of advertisers and ad agency executives showed up at the Clios to accept their awards, not one showed up to pick up a Hubbard award. “We send mailgrams to the winners each year,” said Bruce Silverglade, director of legal affairs for the consumer organization. “None have ever shown up.”
And with good reason. “Nobody likes to be pinned by one of these awards,” said Nelson (Skip) Riddle, president of the Los Angeles office of the ad firm Saatchi & Saatchi DFS, which creates ads for Toyota. Riddle says his agency has never been painted with one of these black marks--and he hopes it never happens. “It would be like being named to the ‘worst dressed’ list,” he said.
More than one group selects the worst ads. Silverglade said he looks to experts in 10 organizations--from the National Council on Alcoholism to the Center for Auto Safety--to select the “winners” in the individual categories.
Here’s a category-by-category rundown for those selected as the most misleading ads of the past year:
- Alcoholic Beverages (selected by the National Council on Alcoholism): The winner here was Anheuser-Busch for its television advertisement that was aired during the Winter Olympics, featuring Spuds MacKenzie as a hockey goalie. The ad was cited not only because the commercials appeal to people under the legal drinking age, but also because they associate drinking with sports. “Spuds is clearly designed to appeal to children as well as young adults,” said Jean Kilbourne, board member of the National Council on Alcoholism. “He’d fit right in on Sesame Street.”
But Michael J. Roarty, executive vice president and director of marketing at Anheuser-Busch, said in a statement, “We are satisfied that neither the Spuds MacKenzie advertisements nor our other brand commercials promote underage consumption.”
- Automobiles (selected by the Center for Auto Safety): Mercedes-Benz blew the competition off the road here for a TV commercial that showed an S-series Mercedes whipping down the German Autobahn at 125 m.p.h. A spokesman for the Center for Auto Safety said that, even on the Autobahn, German government officials have advised that cars not exceed 87 m.p.h.
“The ad doesn’t show anyone doing anything reckless,” said A. B. Shuman, manager of public relations for Mercedes-Benz of North America. Shuman noted that the company stopped running the commercial in May and that one network, CBS, required the company to add a disclaimer to the ad that read, “Please observe local speed limits.”
- Energy (selected by the Safe Energy Communication Council): The nuclear industry-funded group, U.S. Council for Energy Awareness, was picked for its TV ad that shows a barrel of oil--shaped like a hypodermic needle--shooting oil into a map of the United States. “America is hooked on foreign oil,” the ad says. “But using more of our own energy resources, like coal and nuclear energy, helps us just say no to foreign oil.”
Mary O’Driscoll, a spokeswoman for the Safe Energy Communication Council, said the pro-nuclear commercial uses “scare tactics” to make its point. But Carl Goldstein, vice president of media relations for the U.S. Council For Energy Awareness said, “We make no apologies for that ad. It’s just the anti-nuclear movement criticizing us. So, what else is new?”
- Tobacco (selected by the Coalition on Smoking): R. J. Reynolds took the honors for what the coalition’s group spokesman described as a “brazen violation of practically every provision of even its own advertising code.”
The reference was to a print ad for Camel cigarettes that appeared in recent issues of several publications, including Rolling Stone and National Lampoon. The ad points out “smooth moves” for Camel smokers to make on the beach this summer, and it offers this advice: “Run into the water, grab someone and drag her back to the shore, as if you’ve saved her from drowning. The more she kicks and screams, the better.”
The ad has been harshly criticized by feminist groups. But Maura Payne, an R. J. Reynolds spokeswoman, said, “The ad was never intended to offend anyone. And we don’t advocate violence against women. That wouldn’t be wise to do when you’re in the consumer products business.”
- Health (selected by the National Women’s Health Network): The winner here was a TV commercial for the diet aid Dexatrim, in which an actress says she takes the diet pill but “I don’t feel nervous or jittery.” A spokesman for the health organization insists that Dexatrim’s main ingredient, Phenylpropanolamine, is “chemically close” to amphetamines--also known as “speed.”
Thompson Medical Co., makers of Dexatrim, rejected the charge and denied that the active ingredient was a stimulant.
- Cosmetics (selected by the National Consumers League): Revlon, maker of suntan product Bain de Soleil, won for its TV and print ads that offer sun protection factors of 20, 25 and 30. “Consumers placing too much faith in Bain de Soleil’s high sun-protection factor numbers could well wind up spending more time than is safe in the sun,” said Linda F. Golodner, executive director for the National Consumers League.
- Toys (selected by the Consumer Toy Group of Americans for Democratic Action): The group said the most misleading children’s ad was for a toy construction game called Zaks, which is made by toy maker Ohio Art. “Zaks simply can’t be made to do the wild gyrations that appear in the commercial,” said a spokesman for the group.
- Insurance (selected by Consumer Federation of America): In an ad for National Benefit Life’s “Security Life Plan,” spokesman Dick Van Dyke promises “big dollar benefits” for a life insurance policy that costs only $3.95 a month. But the Consumer Federation argues that the benefits--which can total as little as $1,000--aren’t big at all.
- Airlines (selected by the Aviation Consumer Action Project): Trans World Airlines ran the year’s most misleading airline ad, the consumer group said, with a print ad that promised a round-trip flight to London, hotel and car for $298. The real cost of the package, says the consumer group, is a minimum of $792.
TWA is no longer running the ad.
- Food (selected by the Center for Science in the Public Interest): The group said the National Pork Producers Council placed the most misleading food ad last year, with a TV commercial that called pork “the other white meat.” Said a spokesman for CSPI, “Pork is high in fat and cholesterol and does not compare favorably to chicken.”
Charles Harness, a spokesman for the pork producers, said, however, “Pork centerloin broiled contains 8.9 grams fat per 3-ounce serving. Compare the same thing to a chicken thigh, skin on and roasted. That’s 13 grams of fat.”
Although the Center for Science in the Public Interest has been handing out these bad-advertising awards for six years, it has yet to be sued by an angered advertiser, Silverglade said. “When the truth is on our side,” he said, “it’s difficult for an advertiser to win a lawsuit.”
While deceptive advertising is on the increase, Silverglade said, “it would be increasing even faster if it weren’t for organizations like ours.”
All the publicity generated by the bad-ad awards doesn’t cost the meagerly financed group much money. Silverglade figures his organization spends about $2,000 making video tapes of the bad ads, sending out news releases and renting a room for its news conference. As for the plastic trophies, well, they were custom made for about $9 each. Then, of course, there’s the cost of the real lemons that go atop each trophy.
“It’s become sort of a ritual,” said Silverglade. “Everyone on the staff seems to want to be the one to go to the store to pick out the 10 unblemished lemons.”
He wasn’t sure, but he thinks his turn for the lemon run may be next year.
Expensive Birds Roost on Billboard for Gin
A bird in the hand is one thing. But a flock of 3 1/2-foot fiberglass birds--plopped atop a billboard on the San Diego Freeway--are something else entirely.
The billboard ad, for Bombay Gin, notes, “Nothing attracts like Bombay Gin.” So every few days for the past week, another 25-pound bird or two has appeared atop the billboard created for Carillon Importers by the New York advertising agency, TBWA.
Around the end of this week, 16 birds--valued at about $1,000 each--will be sitting atop the billboard. And what about thieves who might want to steal $16,000 worth of colorful, fiberglass birds. Said a Carillon spokesman, “They’re bolted down in such a way that no one could make off with them.”
