Beware The Asterisk: A Scatter Brain Expose
Cue ominous “Jaws” music. Yes, they are tiny but they can be terrifying. In fact, asterisks have been known to change the intended tone of entire ads with their barely noticeable direction to read the itsy bitsy “disclaimer” at the bottom of the page.
Asterisks are not only scary, but they are obviously as prolific as bunnies. And by this I mean I’ve noticed a marked increase in their existence in recent months. In fact, about 4 out of 6 of the recent cosmetics print ads I’ve scanned lately contained those little buggers. So, why should you be concerned with these potent little punctuation markers?
First tip: Watch out for “Advertorials”
There isn’t an actual asterisk attached to this practice, but there might as well be. Always look at the top of the page to see if there are tiny words that say “advertisement”. Why? Well, because these days, many print ads are designed to look like editorial content implying the publication’s endorsement. They are usually wordy with a headline, multiple sub-headlines and multiple photos arranged in a format similar to the magazine’s design style. There’s nothing misleading about this format per se. I personally enjoy writing what I refer to as advertorial pieces mainly because they are wordy and I tend to be wordy myself. I’m just warning you not to confuse the look of an ad with honest to goodness editorial recommendations by the publication’s staff.
Second tip: Don’t skip the fine print
Even if you have perfect vision, you’ll need reading glasses to follow this. This is where there is an actual asterisk somewhere in the ad copy and the teeniest tiniest of disclaimers somewhere along the bottom of the page.
Garnier’s turned inside out
For example, Garnier Nutritioniste ran a two-page spread in a recent fitness magazine for their Skin Renew product. The ad features an absolutely gorgeous woman (of course) holding a juicy red tomato as if she’s getting ready to take a bite. In quotation marks is the statement, “It’s like getting new skin…from within.” Then there is a lot of yadda yadda, vitamin C, yadda yadda, lycopene, yadda yadda, great skin from the inside out, yadda yadda, dermatological-nutrients, ASTERISK. All of this copy sits alongside a picture of oranges, tomatoes and a molecular structure illustration.
Then at the bottom of the page in type so small I needed my reading glasses and a magnifying glass to read it, the ad states, ASTERISK “Dermatological-nutrients=ingredient complexes developed exclusively by Garnier to work on skin’s outer layer.
What? The outer layer? The photo and the copy all give the distinct impression that this skin care product works deep within the skin. Either that or you might just downright eat this stuff to get the benefits. In fact the product photo is the bottle with some of the product in a spoon!
Now granted, there weren’t any lies told here. Skin Renew might do exactly what it claims. However, the asterisk lets you know that it is a topical treatment and does not act systemically as the ad might lead you to believe.
Pantene’s non-comparison
Pantene runs a similar ad about their Pro-V Shine products. In fact, according to their ad you can get “moisture, strength and shine…all in one week!” ASTERISK. The little caveat here…the comparison is against a non-conditioning shampoo. So in fact, Pantene may or may not be any better than other conditioning shampoos on the market. They just make you think they are by keeping the pertinent information so small you’ll skip right over it.
The Beauty Brains bottom line
Now don’t get me wrong. Every asterisk doesn’t mean sketchy claims have been made. Sometimes they are there to note what makeup colors the model is wearing or that results were confirmed by independent research. However, my advice…grab your reading glasses, a magnifying glass or both, but checking out the very fine print is always “worth it”. *
What does the Beauty Brains community think? Have you seen any tricky claims that you’d like to share? Leave a comment!
*Sorry L’Oreal…I spoke ill of your sister company Garnier and now I’m stealing your tag line.
Scatter Brain is a real-life copywriter for hire. If you’re interested in contacting her with business opportunities, please write to “Scatter Brain” care of thebeautybrains@gmail.com.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi,
My name is Dan and I really like your blog. I have a blog too. It is dedicated to health: health.infoniac.com. Hope you like it.
I would like to exchange links with you.
Look forward to hearing from you soon.
Best regards.
Honestly, Scatter Brain, I’ve gotten to the point where I just don’t trust the ads or hype anymore. I feel like the models don’t really look how I’m seeing them, the products don’t do what I’m being told they do, and if I buy the product, I’ll probably not look or feel different. But…I keep trying new things anyways in search of the Holy Grail. It’s crazy! Why do so many of us do this?
I think because it appeals to the scientist in us all. We always want to experiment. This is a good thing.
Dear Karen,
Don’t be dismayed. All cosmetics ads aren’t bad. In fact some of them are darn good and honest…for instance Unilever’s Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. Go to YouTube and search for Dove. Some of their television ads will take your breath away and some of the spoofs of those ads will make you wish you were wearing Depends.
As far as the Dove ads, finally, I see a woman in an ad that looks like me and not as Tom Wolfe said in Bonfire of the Vanities, “a social xray”. The public is demanding more honesty and more realistic images and many companies are listening.
The average American woman is a size 14…so how can us average gals relate to ad images of women that are the size of less than 1% of the population? It’s non-sensical and ad execs are catching on to that fact as is the beauty industry.
In fact, there was a minimum age and BMI imposed on models in this year’s Paris runway shows. There is also a huge stink over a billboard campaign of an anorexic model.
Advertisers are going to whatever it takes to sell a product and if we stand up and say we’re sick and tired of an unrealistic ideal of beauty, then they will follow suit. That’s why they do all the research, focus groups, demographics and psychographics.
Advertising can be but isn’t always sneaky. I just like pointing out the “sneaks”.
Best regards,
Scatter
Thanks for taking the time to respond, Scatter Brain. I hope advertisers ARE listening and feel enough pressure to make some changes.
The “Dirty Mind” Dove commercial was cute at YouTube! So was Jimmy Kimmel’s Uncle Frank.
There are more tag lines in conditioning shampoos like soft & smooth hair vs. non-conditioning shampoo, 2x straighter vs. non-conditioning shampoo, 4x smoother vs. non-conditioning shampoo, 2x more defined waves vs. non-conditioning shampoo, less frizz vs. non-conditioning shampooa and etc, countless numbers of non-conditioning shampoo thing in the ads.
I’m curious to know what shampoo isn’t conditioning these days. Most of them have some kind of ingredient that does something. I’d be more impressed if, say, Pantene said that their smoothing shampoo smoothed better than *the leading national smoothing shampoo* or something like that. Its like they’re comparing apples to bananas and saying bananas are better because they don’t have seeds. Well no kidding, your shampoo moisturizes better than a non-conditioning shampoo…. Its by definition non-conditioning. Oh well.
Shampoos like VO5 or Suave are not conditioning.
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