3. What sorts of claims do companies that make pain medications make?
4. What do you think is the purpose of the national advertising division of the Council of Better Business Bureau?
Scanning
Scan the reading to find and circle the words in bold in the questions above. Check your answers to the questions. Then read the whole text.
Does one brand of paper towels really absorb more water than any others you can 1 buy? Do physicians truly prefer one cold medicine to all the others? Will one kind of
makeup really not rub off on your clothes? Well, that’s what the ads say.
Advertisements make all sorts of claims, but nowadays a company can't just say that 2 its product is the best. It often has to prove its claim. Many people don't realize that
advertising claims are challenged all the time.
In the United States, one of the organizations that judges such challenges is the 3 national advertising division of the Council of Better Business Bureau. This organization was created in 1971 by advertisers as a way to regulate themselves. For decades, the organization's advertising experts have examined what companies say about their
Unit 7 ô Dishonesty Ry
products. They try to answer questions, such as “Is it true that ColorStay makeup * rub off on your collar’”?
Another makeup company wanted to test the ColorStay claim. It asked hundi women to put on ColorStay makeup and white shirts. Then they had to spend the doing their usual activities. Based on this test, the competitor claimed that Color:
makeup actually does rub off. ColorStay’s manufacturer conducted a similar test on hundreds of women. The results of this test were the opposite: the makeup stayed during normal use.
The different results of the tests puzzled the members of the Council of Better Business Bureau's advertising division. They wondered how people would under:
the word “rub off” when they saw the ad. The Council finally decided that ColorS:
manufacturer had proved the makeup didn’t rub off during “normal use.” Because decision, the company added the words “under normal conditions” to its adverti
Over time, the Council has handled many other cases of “true” advertising clai that gave a false impression. For example, it once reviewed a TV commercial for a brand of pain medication, Orudis KT. The ad claimed, “There are many prescription medications, and a doctor can prescribe any of them. Yet, 82 percent of doctors si have prescribed Orudis.”
The statement about Orudis KT was true. However, the ad didn’t report that the doctors may have prescribed Orudis to patients one time only, but never again. The Council decided that the statement was misleading because it gave the wrong im;
It suggested that doctors preferred Orudis to all other pain medications. And this true. As a result, the company stopped using these ads, which really did sound too to be true.
Adapted from Minneapolis Star Trib
EY Comprehension Check
Mark each statement T (true) or F (false). Then correct the false statements.
F 1. Companies dent often have to prove their advertising claims.
. The ColorStay ad claimed that women wouldn't get the makeup on their clothes.
. The manufacturer of ColorStay did tests that found its ad was true.
. Another makeup company did tests that found the ColorStay ad was untrue.
. The advertising division of the Council of Better Business Bureau decided that the ColorStay ad was completely false.
. After the advertising division gave its opinion of the ad, the manufacturer of ColorStay changed its ad.
— 7. Eighty-two percent of doctors prescribed Orudis pain medication at least once.
— 8. Eighty-two percent of doctors preferred Orudis to other pain medications.
CÁ Too Good to Be True
E} Vocabulary Study
Find the words in the reading that match these definitions.
1. questioned (par. 2)
2. make rules for (par. 3)
3. organized and directed ...-.(...) 1“...
4, usual (par. 4)
5. idea poe ee (fat 6)
6. asked questions (par 6)
Understanding Pronoun Reference
Writers use different kinds of pronouns to refer to information that is stated earlier in a text. Some common pronouns are it, they, and their. Understanding pronoun reference is very important for reading comprehension.
What do these pronouns refer to? Write the correct word or phrase.
1. It (par. 2, line 2) 2. their (par. 3, line 4) 3. They (par. 3, line 5) 4. It (par. 4, line 1) 5. it (par. 6, line 2) 6. this (par. 7, line 4)
D) Relating Reading to Personal Experience
Discuss these questions with your classmates.
1. Have you ever seen a misleading advertisement? If so, why was it misleading?
2. Do you think it is important to regulate advertisers? Why or why not?
3. Do you consider an advertiser's claims when choosing a product? What else do you consider?
Unit 7 + Dishonesty
or i ,