Results May VaryThis product advertisement, for thumbuterol, the fat burner, begins to mislead the reader from the very beginning. The ad came from a very popular mens magazine, Maxim, and is targeted directly at young males. It is intended to mislead the reader that it is a factual article, and not an advertisement at all, just from the look of the ad.
The article uses headings and title fonts, similar to all of the other article in the magazine. This tricks the reader into starting to read the article without even considering that it is an ad, in hopes they will be taken in by all of their empty promises. From the very beginning the article plays on one of societies biggest weaknesses, that being their self image. Everyone wants to look different in some way, and most people would love to be thinner.
The title, A Killer Bod In Time For Summer, misleads people into believeing that they will be able to get into shape fast in no time at all. It also plays on peoples weakness of self-image by conjuring up images of the beach in the readers mind. It does this by mentioning the summer and showing pictures of women in bathing suits. The article also plays on socities laziness by promising quick results with no work. This article also seems to use very sneaky rhetoric and invites the reader to reason fallaciously. The article seems to guarantee that the product burns pounds and shrinks inches in the beginning of the article, but no where else in the article does it mention this guarantee.
The ad also states that it was reported by an AP senior nutrition expert, but it fails to make any mention of his name or even what AP stands for. By looking more closely at the article I conclude that AP stands for Alternative Pharmaceuticals, the company who is selling the product, and the reader is then left to question the credibility of the companies own experts. The ad also uses fine print to state that results may vary, and the fine print then goes on to state that the product has not even been reviewed by the FDA. The ad also uses big words to confuse the reder, such asmentioning that one of the main ingredients is Guggulsterone, derived from the bark of a tree in India. Cleverly disquising the fact that all they are trying to sell you is ground up tree bark.
The ad makes claims that their ingredients are proven to work, but provenby who, according to the fine print not by the FDA. The article also uses before and after pictures of a supposed product user, but they seem to have convinently left out his name and any information on the users diet and exercise habits while taking the pills. In closing the article seems to have all of the key features of a misleading advertisement, from false claims and unproven facts, to doctored photos of one of their supposed clients.Words/ Pages : 502 / 24
