Techniques In Advertising

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WEASEL WORDS

Professor William Lutz describes the advertisers tricks as “Weasel words”, which are words that seem to mean one thing but really mean the opposite. To avoid falling into these traps of advertisers he stressed that consumers need to be educated consumers. The language he uses is very informative and persuasive to let the consumers know that they have to pay attention to these “Weasel Words”. According to Lutz, advertisements use the word help to make you think that the product is able to stop, eliminate, end, solve, or heal.
Weasel words are those words that are tossed into a sentence that change the actual meaning of the sentence while leaving an impression that is different. It's the easiest way to avoid having to take any responsibility for anything you say, or seem to say. For example, the sentence "Our canned corn is as good as fresh cooked corn."© The impression given is that the canned corn is as good (whatever that means) as corn on the cob right off the stalk. However, the phrase contains a weasel word: "cooked". Thus, the sentence actually says that the canned corn is as good as corn that has been cooked; now you need to cook it again to serve it. Note the sentence does not say that the canned corn is as good as fresh corn; it's as good as fresh cooked corn.
Another example: "Our dog food contains as much meat protein as 10 pounds of sirloin steak."© The sentence gives the impression that the dog food contains sirloin steak. In fact it contains the equivalent of 10 pounds of steak in the form of meat protein. This protein can be anything that is made of meat: lips, cheeks, snouts, entrails, etc. It is doubtful that the dog food actually contains 10 pounds of steak. If it did, the sentence would read, "Our dog food contains 10 pounds of sirloin steak."
Another interesting example of weasel words is the phrase "Three out of four doctors recommend the major ingredient in [the product of your choice...