Daily dupes and marketing half-truths

All marketers are liars.

Well, not always. But it is safe to say that the average consumer has fallen for the the marketing dupe at least once.

And to clarify, dupe: Easily deceived.

America may be politically divided, but we are one united and loyal bunch when it comes to our fast food. Let's pick on Taco Bell and Wendy's. I would be the last to deny my occasional craving for some late night indulgences, especially after seeing a new commercial for the latest Taco Bell food "creation." However, after spending some in line at the drive-thru, it occurred to me that fast food chains are incredibly adept at re-packaging the same five or six ingredients into "new" items to regain our loyalty.

The Epiphany

At Taco Bell: The crunchy taco and soft taco contain the same three ingredients. Being the genius that Taco Bell is, they added a little sour cream and combined the two tacos to create the Crunchwrap Supreme. Or Transfat Supreme, rather. Same ingredients, more money.

At Wendys: Oh, the classic and refreshing Frosty. Not ice cream... Frosty. Several months ago, Wendys began offering a small bag of "mix-ins" (I still wonder if Coldstone looked into a copyright infringement lawsuit), and sold the new Frosty for an additional $1.30. With the amount of Oreo provided in the "mix-in" bags, not to mention you had to do the mixing yourself, I can't help but wonder how many Americans buy into this slide of hand. Even more recently, is the introduction of the Frosty Milkshake. Really, now? They can't possibly think we're that dumb. Who hasn't waited for their Frosty to melt and drank it with a straw? I was drinking Frosty milkshakes long before they called it that. Here's the new choice, and I would hardly call it a dilemma: Medium Frosty - $1.29. Frosty Milkshake (same size, with whipped cream on top) $3.19.

Enough with fast food. Let's focus on outdoor advertising. More specifically, the entertaining graphics and catch phrases we see on billboards driving down the interstate each day. My personal favorite is this:

"Stay at the Holiday Inn... where kids eat and stay for free!"

Whoa there road-tripping tourist families. Keep driving. Since no hotel anywhere charges extra for kids, not to everyone is welcome to the continental breakfast, I fail to see the "free" portion of this bargain. Sadly, I can only sadly imagine how many people have marveled at and fall for this outstandingly (false) deal.

The bottom line is this: Everyone is in the business of something. That means sales are necessary, and since everone is human, we want to believe we're being given a "insider" deal or a price break. Oh, contraire. Two rules to follow-

1. Think twice before paying more. Always.
2. If you were a given company, how would you try to make a sale to you?

God bless the $.99 menu.