One of the most important aspects that I teach in my copywriting class and book is the importance of being honest. The risk of embellishing the truth in marketing copy is far worse than any short term gain that false copy could bring to your business. That's why I laughed very hard when I saw a billboard ad today that demonstrates truth in advertising perfectly. It was just so ironic.
I'm not sure if the ad was for a television station or a radio station (so sadly, the ad itself wasn't effective). It took a few seconds for me to process the message, which left me with no time to see who the advertiser was.
Regardless of who the advertiser was, the funny part was the copy, which said:
Reporting Exposing the Truth
The text was in black except "Reporting" was crossed out in red and "Exposing" was printed above in red as well.
Now, that's truth in advertising. My husband and I had just been talking about the 2008 Presidential primaries fiasco and the sensationalized reporting that goes along with it, so when we passed this billboard ad we laughed out loud. It was so true!
Of course, I don't think that's the negative message the advertiser wanted to convey, so this is a lesson in making sure your message is clear in your copy. Regardless, it was funny.
What do you think?
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