The Empowered Consumer – Three Lessons from the “Fine Print”

The Empowered Consumer – Three Lessons from the “Fine Print”

In today’s markets, businesses and advertisers care more about their profits and generating more sales  than they do the effects of their predatory marketing campaigns on the customers. It is thus not surprising that most of the advertisements we see in the media today carries one form of fine prints or the other:  a speed-talked disclaimer on TV and radio or a print advertising’s tiny type that often makes an advertised claim false or misleading. In other words, almost every company selling just about any type of retail goods or services(such as restaurants, cable TV packages, and cell phone service) are guilty of using fine prints to mislead customers. Broadly speaking, because they know that if they really told the truth in the big print people would be less interested in the offer, companies like to put the happiest face on their claims. Marketers believe with considerable confidence that as long as they reveal the truth with an asterisk, it is okay to say almost anything in an advertisement.

The fundamental lesson here is that, as a consumer, you need to protect yourself from these deceptions and questionable marketing practices. Here’s  a simplified  explanation of how fine prints can be your most valuable weapon.

Where to Find Fine Prints

Almost every advertisement is followed by a fine print. For instance, in one of the advertisements by Best Buy, the company claimed that it would match online prices – a claim that sounds great to the customers. However, in the fine print that followed the ad, Best Buy explained that it would match prices of a few specified online retailers, only on certain categories of products, and it will exclude some of the best sale days, such as Black Friday. Here are more examples: T-Mobile ad claims to offer “unlimited nationwide 4G data.” This offer, also comes with limitations. If you are a fan of the Consumer Report magazine, you will discover that the inside cover, the section called “Selling It”  is a good source of fine print revelations.  For instance, one of the ads in this section of the magazine is for the Tiki Island King Windfighter torch which claims that it stays “…lit in the wind.” But  it contains a fine print that cautions the buyer not to use it in windy conditions! Now take a look at this one: Western Sky Financial has a TV ad that offered loans  of up to $5000. But the fine print says, “The APR  for a typical loan of $5000 is 116.73% with 84 monthly payments of $486.58”(Karp, 2012 p.4). This means that if you, the customer, take $5000 and pay the loan back in seven years, your total payment will be $35,872.29! Ridiculous, isn’t it?

How to Protect Yourself

First, you should always be cautious and skeptical of claims that seem too good to be true. Second, don’t forget to look for and read the fine prints carefully. Three, be watchful and understand that  most broad claims are going to have some type of disclaimer, footnote or limitations.

But We Thought the Government Monitors False Advertising?

Well, the government does monitor such false ads. However, there are limits to how much the state attorney generals’ offices and the Federal Trade Commission(FTC) can do. For instance, the FTC  made it clear that, “ …advertisers cannot use fine print to contradict other statements in an ad or to clear up misimpressions the ad would otherwise  leave” (Karp, 2012 p.4). The problem, however, is that, the state attorney generals’ offices  and FCT are overwhelmed: There are so many  misleading ads that use fine prints that no government agency can review all of them.

The Bottom Line

Caveat emptor – be your own ad  watchdog!

Sources

Karp G.(2012, November 25): Find Truth in the Fine Print. Baltimore Sun(Business & Jobs Section) p. 4.