UFO Cults

This reading kind of taught me a lot about the relationship between companies and their consumers. Corporations know that most of the people that buy their products do not truly research what they are spending their hard-earned money on. Therefore, they are able to throw false information in advertisements by tweaking small parts of the script. A couple key tactics that companies use are comparison to competitors (most of the time, there is no difference in rival brands) and breakthroughs (anything new or improved). Busy consumers will jump on the ban wagon if they are misled to believe the product at hand is exponentially better than the next one -- cost won't matter if they believe they are buying "the best" merchandise.

From Snake Oil to Emu Oil

After reading “From Snake Oil to Emu Oil”, I actually wasn’t surprised. Business and corporate competition is no-holds-barred. Companies will say just about anything to make a dollar. Most of their claims are propaganda—farfetched stretches of the truth that are basically lies, but are held together by thin strands of fact. Even though competitors offer extremely similar products, they always have small contrasts, which each claims is the reason they are better than the next. I think it is almost comical that most companies put their “customers first”, but will tell them anything to get their money. Most business tactics are hypocritical.