Doublespeak and weasel words in ad Olay Regenerist
Olay Regenerist is an anti-aging skin care product released by US top brand: Olay. Considering Lutz’s point of view, the attached advertisement includes some doublespeak and weasel words, which will be explained as follows.
First of all, the sentence on the top left, “Helps protect against UV damage during the day” includes “[t]he biggest weasel word used in advertising doublespeak” (Lutz 49): “help”. Here, “help” plays a significant role to obscure the degree of subsequent “protect”. Secondly, in the phrase on the middle right, “deeply hydrates at night”, “hydrate” sounds scientific doublespeak because actually most skin care products, or even just tap water, can “hydrate” your skin. Thirdly, Lutz probably would not happy with the sentence on the lower left, “For FIRM SKIN* gravity doesn’t stand a chance.” What’s FIRM SKIN? This word has Note on the bottom, saying “* With plumping hydration”. Again, just tap water can provide you with “plumping hydration”. Fourthly, the first sentence in the description on the bottom includes “works”. As Lutz explains,
As with “acts”, “works” is the same meaningless verb used to make you think that this product really does something and maybe even something special or unique. But “works”, like “acts”, is basically a word empty of any specific meaning. (54)
In addition, although the third sentence in the description refers to GRAMMY Awards, it can be classified as “appeal to good character” in logical fallacies because the GRAMMY Awards is not an authentic award for cosmetics, but for music.
Finally, I question the product name “Regenerist” itself. Does it “regenerate” the died skin cells? With a touch of cream? If it’s so, the developer must acquire the Nobel Prize.
In conclusion, from Lutz’s point of view, this advertisement contains certain volume of weasel words, scientific doublespeak and logical fallacies. However, I cannot agree with Lutz’s argument for some points. For example, he insists “ads must be read literally and exactly, according to the dictionary definition of words” (55). But if the linguistically or scientifically accurate expressions are always prioritized first, the ads would become like “Terms and Conditions” on contracts, which are often never read due to small characters packed in small spaces especially when you install new softwares or subscribe web services. If you see such ads without any pictures or illustrations on magazines or newspapers, are you really interested in reading? Most people would say “No”. Therefore, usually ads use pictures or illustrations, and short and catchy phrases. In such a short phrase, it is too hard to pursuit linguistic or scientific impeccability. Meanwhile, the laws regulate misleading or incorrect information on ads. That means the copy writers cannot tell a lie. And the companies cannot create perfect products. They may know it is effective for 99% of people to protect UV damage to some extent after their in-house scientific research or statistics. But they have to think of the rest 1 % people on whom the product is not effective. Therefore, “help” or “virtually” is used often not to tell a lie. On the boundary between “legal” and “illegal”, ad copy writers have to devise mesmerizing copies within so limited words and timelines. Considering above, it would be too cruel to criticize them as if they were doing something wrong.
Works Cited
Lutz, William. “With These Words I Can Sell You Anything.” Word and World: A Critical Thinking Reader. By Kent Lewis. Tronto: Nelson, 2007. Print.
Regenerist by Olay. Advertisement. OK! Jan. 2012: 82. Print.
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