False Claims and Weasel Words in On-Line Advertisements of Weight Loss Products.
ABSTRACT
Meningkatnya orang yang menderita obesitas di banyak negara
menyebabkan munculnya produk-produk obat pelangsing yang diiklankan secara
sangat persuasif tanpa mempertimbangkan efek negatif yang mungkin terjadi pada
para konsumennya. Iklan-iklan tersebut banyak dijumpai di Internet karena iklan
di dunia maya lebih memungkinkan transaksi langsung antara pembeli dan
penjual. Masalah yang muncul adalah banyaknya iklan obat pelangsing yang
menggunakan
bentuk
bahasa
tertentu
yang
dapat
menyesatkan
calon
konsumennya.
Penyalahgunaan bahasa tersebut merupakan topik pembahasan tugas akhir
ini. Analisis data yang dilakukan menggunakan dua teori untuk mengungkapkan
makna sebenarnya dari bahasa yang digunakan dalam iklan tersebut. Teori
pertama adalah False Claims dari artikel penelitian George. L. Blackburn. Teori
ini digunakan untuk menganalisis janji-janji dalam iklan yang tak dapat
dibuktikan, misalnya janji untuk “menurunkan berat badan sebanyak 9 kilogram
dalam satu minggu.” Teori kedua adalah Weasel Words, dari buku Doublespeak
karya William Lutz, yang digunakan untuk menjelaskan arti sebenarnya dari katakata bermakna kabur yang digunakan dalam iklan untuk menyesatkan para
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konsumen, misalnya kata new “baru” dan fast “cepat,” karena kata-kata
semacam itu memiliki arti yang relatif.
Data penelitian ini berupa enam iklan obat pelangsing berbahasa Inggris
yang diambil dari Internet. Hasil analisis data menunjukkan bahwa False Claims
dan Weasel Words selalu ada dalam setiap iklan. Jenis False Claims yang
dominan adalah natural/safe claim, lose weight without exercise/diet claims dan
scientific claim. Sedangkan Weasel Words yang paling banyak digunakan adalah
new “baru,” dan help/assist “membantu.”
Penelitian ini diharapkan dapat membantu para pembaca iklan obat
pelangsing berbahasa Inggris dalam memahami makna sebenarnya dari bahasa
yang digunakan dalam iklan yang dibacanya. Lebih dari pada itu, hasil penelitian
ini dapat digunakan oleh pengajar dan pembelajar bahasa Inggris sebagai masukan
untuk lebih memahami bahasa Inggris dalam iklan.
Words: 277
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................... i
TABLE OF CONTENTS.................................................................................. ii
ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study ......................................................................... 1
Statement of the Problem ........................................................................ 4
Purpose of the Study ............................................................................... 5
Method of Research ................................................................................ 5
Organization of the Thesis ................................................................... .. 5
CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK................................... 6
CHAPTER THREE: FALSE CLAIMS AND WEASEL WORDS
IN THE ON-LINE ADVERTISEMENTS
OF WEIGHT LOSS PRODUCTS .......................................................15
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION ............................................................... 32
BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................. 37
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Many people are familiar with weight loss product advertisements because
they frequently appear in almost all kinds of media forms: magazines,
newspapers, radio, television, and Internet websites. The advertisements have
successfully persuaded prospective consumers to spend their money on the
advertised products although the products can be ineffective or may endanger
their health. However, these consumers, who may have different reasons for
purchasing the weight loss product, in fact have the same purpose: they want the
easiest way to lose weight. In this thesis, these prospective consumers are
classified into two types: the first consists of people who need to control their
body weight to stay healthy or to be healthier, whereas the second is made up of
people, mostly women, who want to reduce their weight to look more attractive.
The first type of consumers, who want to be healthier, may have heard
about the danger of obesity, which according to World Health Organization
(WHO), is “abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health.” In
1
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addition, obesity is related to the level of Body Mass Index (BMI). If the level of
BMI of a person is equal to or greater than 25, he/she is just called overweight,
while a person with the level of BMI equal to or greater than 30 is called obese
(“Obesity and Overweight”). Information about the danger of obesity can make
people anxious and think that obesity is a disease. In fact, obesity is not a disease
but it can lead people to many serious health problems, such as heart disease,
stroke, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, gallbladder disorder, and
some kinds of cancer. Therefore, it is understandable that people desire very much
to become slimmer.
The second type of consumers, mostly women dreaming to look slimmer
and more attractive, are perhaps tempted by the weight loss product
advertisements showing the pictures of slim, young, beautiful women with some
persuasive words luring the readers. Apparently, whatever reason they have, those
consumers are not willing to follow the WHO’s guidance for losing weight in
reasonable ways, namely by “doing regular physical activities and making a
healthier choice of food” (“Obesity and Overweight”). For people in industry, the
negative attitude toward doing the right but painful ways of losing weight
becomes the motivation to produce more weight loss products that promise quick,
easy results and to promote the products through advertisements, especially in the
Internet.
Internet websites have become the favorite media form to advertise
products. Compared with advertising in off-line media, on-line advertising has
more advantages, such as wider coverage, lower cost, and faster and easier
transaction (“10 Advantages of Online Advertising”). In March 2011, Internet
2
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World Stats stated that the biggest part (44.0%) of the Internet users in the world
was in Asia, which suggests that Asian people have more possibility to be
influenced by on-line advertising than people in other parts of the world.
Meanwhile, many Asian people, including Indonesians, are unaware of the
advertiser’s strategies of promoting the product by using false claims and weasel
words in the advertisements. With this in my mind, I choose to analyze the
language of the weight loss product advertisements in the Internet.
This kind of analysis is necessary because most of the advertisements
claim that their products will cause rapid, easy weight loss but they do not truly
warrant the results. Consumers, who spend a big amount of money on the
products, may be deceived if they are not able to understand the real message sent
by the advertisers. In order to reveal the truth behind the advertising language, I
try to identify and classify the false claims and explain the words with unclear
meanings in the advertisements.
This thesis, entitled “False Claims and Weasel Words in On-line
Advertisements of Weight Loss Products,” uses the theory of George L.
Blackburn. He has classified the deceiving claims in weight loss product
advertisements into nine types. In addition, to evaluate the advertisers’ real
message behind the bluffing words in the data, the analysis uses the theory of
weasel words, which is included in the doublespeak theory by William Lutz.
Weasel words, or “advertising doublespeak,” are words that “appear to say one
thing when in fact they say the opposite or nothing at all” (Lutz 85). In the field of
Linguistics, this study belongs to Pragmatics, which is the study of the speaker’s
meaning.
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The focus of the study is on words showing the characteristics of false
claims and weasel words. The data are the language used in the data sources,
which are weight loss product advertisements collected from Internet websites.
Studies on the use of weasel words in advertisements have been done several
times by students of the English Department in Maranatha Christian University
but weasel words in weight loss product advertisements have never been
analyzed. Moreover, Blackburn’s theory of false claims has never been used in
previous students’ theses.
This study is significant because it can be used to help English speaking
people understand the real message in the weight loss product advertisements, and
it is useful for English learners, especially in Indonesia, to be aware of language
manipulation in advertisements that persuade or even deceive consumers to buy
products with unwarranted quality.
Words: 869
Statement of the Problem
The problem of this study is formulated as follows:
1. Which words in the data of weight loss product advertisements show false
claims?
2. What weasel words are used in the advertisements?
3. What is the advertiser’s purpose of using the weasel words?
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Purpose of the Study
This study has the following purposes:
1. To identify the words in the data that show false claims.
2. To identify the weasel words used in the data.
3. To reveal the advertiser’s purpose of using the weasel words.
Method of Research
To conduct the study, first I learned the theories of advertising language
from several sources. Then I collected information and theories that will support
the language analysis. After that, I collected some weight loss product
advertisements from the Internet and analyzed the language by using the theories
of False Claims (Blackburn) and Weasel Words (Lutz). Finally, I reported the
results in this thesis.
Organization of the Thesis
This thesis consists of four chapters. Chapter One presents the
Introduction, which contains the Background of the Study, Statement of the
Problem, Purpose of the Study, Method of Research, and Organization of the
Thesis. Chapter Two puts forward the Theoretical Framework. The next chapter,
Chapter Three, contains the analysis of false claims and weasel words in the data
of weight loss product advertisements. This thesis ends with the conclusion in
Chapter Four, which is followed by the Bibliography.
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CHAPTER FOUR
CONCLUSION
This thesis has presented the analysis of false claims and weasel words in
six on-line advertisements of weight loss products, namely PROACTOL,
FULFILL PLUS, SLIMKICK, LI-DA, ACAIMAX CLEANSE, and CAPSIPLEX.
The theory of false claims belongs to George L. Blackburn, whereas the theory of
weasel words is taken from William Lutz’s book entitled Doublespeak.
From the analysis it is found that all the ads in the data have used false
claims and weasel words. These two methods are used to make the ads sound
convincing so that consumers will purchase and consume the products. However,
the promises presented in the ads should not be regarded as always true because if
the products were truly guaranteed, the ads would have provided scientific data
authorized by a formal medical institution and would not have used false claims
and weasel words to impress consumers.
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In the data of this thesis, the nine of Blackburn’s false claims have been
used 15 times, but the most frequently used false claims are natural & safe
claims (4 times), scientific claim (2 times), and lose weight without
exercise/diet claim (2 times). These claims are the most effective to attract
consumers because generally people prefer a safe and easy weight loss program to
one that requires a longer time and makes use of dubious ingredients.
A natural claim is purposively designed to attract consumers who prefer
products that have natural ingredients and think that natural substances are always
safe to consume. Therefore, natural & safe claims are used to convince them that
the advertised product is safe to consume so that they will feel confident to buy
the product. Unfortunately, however, some natural ingredients are not safe to
consume. Ephedrine, for instance, is harmful for the human heart and it can result
in serious organ injuries for some people (Blackburn 20). Cerbera manghas can
affect cardiac work, whereas some mushrooms are found to be poisonous (“Buah
Bintaro, Buah Beracun yang Berguna). Scientific claim is made to make
consumers believe that the product they are going to consume is safe because the
product has been researched to prove its legitimacy. Lastly, the claim of losing
significant weight without exercise or diet must have been created to attract either
busy people who have limited time to do physical exercise or people who like
eating a lot but have no strong will to leave this habit. This claim can make
consumers be dazzled with the idea of losing weight without effort, which may
lead them to buy the product.
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Some false claims occur only once in the data; they are rapid weight loss,
before/after, customer’s testimonial, permanent weight loss claim, and no more
failure. All these claims are also helpful to advertise the weight loss products but
when compared to natural claim, scientific claim and lose weight without
exercise/diet, it is apparent that they are less often used. The only claim that does
not occur in the data is money-back guarantee claim. In my opinion, many
companies would feel reluctant to make this claim because they know that to lose
substantial weight, one needs a long term process while it is potential that the
weight will be gained back. With this knowledge, the companies realize that they
cannot promise consumers a guarantee let alone money-back guarantee.
False claims are used in ads to mislead consumers by giving dishonest
promises whereas weasel words, such as help, new, improved, fast, act and like
magic, have a different function. Weasel words are generally words that do not
have an exact meaning so that they may seem to say something but they really do
not. In the data, some weasel words are also used to strengthen certain false
claims, for instance help on page 21 of this thesis. Some others, namely, virtually,
like, improved, act, work, which also belong to Lutz’s weasel words, are not found
in the data. In my opinion, this fact is due to the type of the advertised product. In
the advertisements of many other products, those weasel words are easily found.
Two weasel words, namely new and help/assist are found to be the most
frequently used in the six ads. Both weasel words are used to convince consumers
that the advertised products are worth buying, although they are not. The word
new is used in the ad to convince consumers that the product is different from any
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previous product; nevertheless, the advertiser does not show or explain the
changes made to the product. The ad persuades consumers to think that the
product has been an innovation in the weight loss product industry and it promises
a successful result. In this case, the word new is a weasel word as it makes the ad
seem to claim something while in fact it claims nothing.
The other weasel word that most frequently appears in the data is help/
assist, which occurs, for example, in data 3: help boost your weight loss. By using
the word help, the ad does not mean to solve consumers’ weight problem or
eliminate their fat. The word is used just to support the dramatic result of the word
related to it or placed after it, namely boost, which leads consumers to forget the
word help/assist and focus on the effect of boost your weight loss only. Critical
consumers will realize that the word help should be interpreted as “help to a
certain degree,” which can be so limited that the effect is not significant.
In the findings, there are also two unfinished words, namely the word
more in SlimKick can help your body burn more calories in the third data and the
word better in increase energy and feel better in the fifth data. The advertiser
intentionally leaves those sentences unfinished and lets consumers make their own
claim by finishing the sentence according to their own unrealistic thought. As can
be seen in the third data, the word more is used to bring an idea of the calorie
amount that can be burned by this product. However, without finishing the
comparison, the consumers will not know “it burns more calories than what
product?”
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In the fifth data, the word better is also made unfinished so that consumers
do not know “feel better than which situation?” Thus, after reading the claim
increase energy and feel better, consumers may think that this product will make
them feel better because it increases their energy. This possibility will enable the
advertiser to promote their product without having to promise anything even
though consumers may see many promises in the unfinished sentence.
On the whole, I arrive at a conclusion that both the false claims and the
weasel words are designed to mislead consumers and to convince them that the
advertised product is effective; therefore, the selling of the product will be
boosted. These designed methods are commonly used because many prospective
consumers will only be attracted to buy a product if the ad claims that the product
is effective and worth buying, even if the claim is false.
By understanding the style of the advertising language, consumers will be
more careful in buying weight loss products. They will understand the hidden
meaning of the false claims and the weasel words so that they will not buy an
unworthy product, which could not only make them feel disappointed but could
also harm their health. Consequently, understanding the use of false claims and
weasel words in English ads is also important for English learners in Indonesia to
make them more aware of the real message behind the advertising language.
Therefore, teachers are encouraged to include this topic in their teaching material
to make their students more critical.
Words: 1,274
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books
“Better.” Cambridge Advance Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Singapore: Green
GiantPress,2008.Print.
“Entirely.” Cambridge Advance Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Singapore: Green
Giant Press, 2008.Print.
“Fast.” Cambridge Advance Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Singapore: Green
Giant Press, 2008.Print.
“Help.” Cambridge Advance Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Singapore: Green
Giant Press, 2008.Print.
“New.” Cambridge Advance Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Singapore: Green
Giant Press, 2008.Print.
“Natural.” Cambridge Advance Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Singapore: Green
Giant Press, 2008.Print.
“Organic.” Cambridge Advance Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Singapore: Green
Giant Press, 2008.Print.
“Up to.” Cambridge Advance Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Singapore: Green
Giant Press, 2008.Print.
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Lutz, William. Doublespeak. New York: HarperCollins Publisher, 1989. Print.
Websites
Blackburn, George L. “Weight-Loss Advertising: An Analysis of Current
Trends.” United States: Federal Trade Commission, 2002. Web. 9
September 2011.
Carol, Robert Todd. “From Becoming a Critical Thinker.” Web. 3 October 2011
Hardayanto, Maria. “Buah Bintaro, Buah Beracun yang Berguna.” (Bintaro Fruit,
Poisonous but Useful). Web. 1 November 2011.
Himanshu. “10 Reason why people use Internet.” Web. 2 October 2011.
“Internet Users in the World.” Miniwatts Marketing Group, 2011. Web. 2
October 2011.
“KitKat Works Like a Machine.” N.p. N.d. Web. 30 December 2011
“Obesity and Overweight.” WHO, 2011. Web. 1 October 2011.
“Obat Pelangsing dan Pengaruhnya Terhadap Ginjal.” (Slimming Products and
their Effects on Kidneys). Admin, 2009. Web. 24 October 2011.
Schrank, Jeffrey. “The Language of Advertising Claims.” Web. 5 October 2011.
Source of Data
PROACTOL. Web. 18 September 2011.
FULFILL PLUS. Web. 25 September 2011.
SLIMKICK. Web. 24 September 2011.
LI-DA. Web. 24 September 2011.
ACAIMAX CLEASE. Web. 24 September 2011.
CAPSIPLEX. Web. 1 October 2011.
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Meningkatnya orang yang menderita obesitas di banyak negara
menyebabkan munculnya produk-produk obat pelangsing yang diiklankan secara
sangat persuasif tanpa mempertimbangkan efek negatif yang mungkin terjadi pada
para konsumennya. Iklan-iklan tersebut banyak dijumpai di Internet karena iklan
di dunia maya lebih memungkinkan transaksi langsung antara pembeli dan
penjual. Masalah yang muncul adalah banyaknya iklan obat pelangsing yang
menggunakan
bentuk
bahasa
tertentu
yang
dapat
menyesatkan
calon
konsumennya.
Penyalahgunaan bahasa tersebut merupakan topik pembahasan tugas akhir
ini. Analisis data yang dilakukan menggunakan dua teori untuk mengungkapkan
makna sebenarnya dari bahasa yang digunakan dalam iklan tersebut. Teori
pertama adalah False Claims dari artikel penelitian George. L. Blackburn. Teori
ini digunakan untuk menganalisis janji-janji dalam iklan yang tak dapat
dibuktikan, misalnya janji untuk “menurunkan berat badan sebanyak 9 kilogram
dalam satu minggu.” Teori kedua adalah Weasel Words, dari buku Doublespeak
karya William Lutz, yang digunakan untuk menjelaskan arti sebenarnya dari katakata bermakna kabur yang digunakan dalam iklan untuk menyesatkan para
iii
Maranatha Christian University
konsumen, misalnya kata new “baru” dan fast “cepat,” karena kata-kata
semacam itu memiliki arti yang relatif.
Data penelitian ini berupa enam iklan obat pelangsing berbahasa Inggris
yang diambil dari Internet. Hasil analisis data menunjukkan bahwa False Claims
dan Weasel Words selalu ada dalam setiap iklan. Jenis False Claims yang
dominan adalah natural/safe claim, lose weight without exercise/diet claims dan
scientific claim. Sedangkan Weasel Words yang paling banyak digunakan adalah
new “baru,” dan help/assist “membantu.”
Penelitian ini diharapkan dapat membantu para pembaca iklan obat
pelangsing berbahasa Inggris dalam memahami makna sebenarnya dari bahasa
yang digunakan dalam iklan yang dibacanya. Lebih dari pada itu, hasil penelitian
ini dapat digunakan oleh pengajar dan pembelajar bahasa Inggris sebagai masukan
untuk lebih memahami bahasa Inggris dalam iklan.
Words: 277
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................... i
TABLE OF CONTENTS.................................................................................. ii
ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study ......................................................................... 1
Statement of the Problem ........................................................................ 4
Purpose of the Study ............................................................................... 5
Method of Research ................................................................................ 5
Organization of the Thesis ................................................................... .. 5
CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK................................... 6
CHAPTER THREE: FALSE CLAIMS AND WEASEL WORDS
IN THE ON-LINE ADVERTISEMENTS
OF WEIGHT LOSS PRODUCTS .......................................................15
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION ............................................................... 32
BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................. 37
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Many people are familiar with weight loss product advertisements because
they frequently appear in almost all kinds of media forms: magazines,
newspapers, radio, television, and Internet websites. The advertisements have
successfully persuaded prospective consumers to spend their money on the
advertised products although the products can be ineffective or may endanger
their health. However, these consumers, who may have different reasons for
purchasing the weight loss product, in fact have the same purpose: they want the
easiest way to lose weight. In this thesis, these prospective consumers are
classified into two types: the first consists of people who need to control their
body weight to stay healthy or to be healthier, whereas the second is made up of
people, mostly women, who want to reduce their weight to look more attractive.
The first type of consumers, who want to be healthier, may have heard
about the danger of obesity, which according to World Health Organization
(WHO), is “abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health.” In
1
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addition, obesity is related to the level of Body Mass Index (BMI). If the level of
BMI of a person is equal to or greater than 25, he/she is just called overweight,
while a person with the level of BMI equal to or greater than 30 is called obese
(“Obesity and Overweight”). Information about the danger of obesity can make
people anxious and think that obesity is a disease. In fact, obesity is not a disease
but it can lead people to many serious health problems, such as heart disease,
stroke, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, gallbladder disorder, and
some kinds of cancer. Therefore, it is understandable that people desire very much
to become slimmer.
The second type of consumers, mostly women dreaming to look slimmer
and more attractive, are perhaps tempted by the weight loss product
advertisements showing the pictures of slim, young, beautiful women with some
persuasive words luring the readers. Apparently, whatever reason they have, those
consumers are not willing to follow the WHO’s guidance for losing weight in
reasonable ways, namely by “doing regular physical activities and making a
healthier choice of food” (“Obesity and Overweight”). For people in industry, the
negative attitude toward doing the right but painful ways of losing weight
becomes the motivation to produce more weight loss products that promise quick,
easy results and to promote the products through advertisements, especially in the
Internet.
Internet websites have become the favorite media form to advertise
products. Compared with advertising in off-line media, on-line advertising has
more advantages, such as wider coverage, lower cost, and faster and easier
transaction (“10 Advantages of Online Advertising”). In March 2011, Internet
2
Maranatha Christian University
World Stats stated that the biggest part (44.0%) of the Internet users in the world
was in Asia, which suggests that Asian people have more possibility to be
influenced by on-line advertising than people in other parts of the world.
Meanwhile, many Asian people, including Indonesians, are unaware of the
advertiser’s strategies of promoting the product by using false claims and weasel
words in the advertisements. With this in my mind, I choose to analyze the
language of the weight loss product advertisements in the Internet.
This kind of analysis is necessary because most of the advertisements
claim that their products will cause rapid, easy weight loss but they do not truly
warrant the results. Consumers, who spend a big amount of money on the
products, may be deceived if they are not able to understand the real message sent
by the advertisers. In order to reveal the truth behind the advertising language, I
try to identify and classify the false claims and explain the words with unclear
meanings in the advertisements.
This thesis, entitled “False Claims and Weasel Words in On-line
Advertisements of Weight Loss Products,” uses the theory of George L.
Blackburn. He has classified the deceiving claims in weight loss product
advertisements into nine types. In addition, to evaluate the advertisers’ real
message behind the bluffing words in the data, the analysis uses the theory of
weasel words, which is included in the doublespeak theory by William Lutz.
Weasel words, or “advertising doublespeak,” are words that “appear to say one
thing when in fact they say the opposite or nothing at all” (Lutz 85). In the field of
Linguistics, this study belongs to Pragmatics, which is the study of the speaker’s
meaning.
3
Maranatha Christian University
The focus of the study is on words showing the characteristics of false
claims and weasel words. The data are the language used in the data sources,
which are weight loss product advertisements collected from Internet websites.
Studies on the use of weasel words in advertisements have been done several
times by students of the English Department in Maranatha Christian University
but weasel words in weight loss product advertisements have never been
analyzed. Moreover, Blackburn’s theory of false claims has never been used in
previous students’ theses.
This study is significant because it can be used to help English speaking
people understand the real message in the weight loss product advertisements, and
it is useful for English learners, especially in Indonesia, to be aware of language
manipulation in advertisements that persuade or even deceive consumers to buy
products with unwarranted quality.
Words: 869
Statement of the Problem
The problem of this study is formulated as follows:
1. Which words in the data of weight loss product advertisements show false
claims?
2. What weasel words are used in the advertisements?
3. What is the advertiser’s purpose of using the weasel words?
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Maranatha Christian University
Purpose of the Study
This study has the following purposes:
1. To identify the words in the data that show false claims.
2. To identify the weasel words used in the data.
3. To reveal the advertiser’s purpose of using the weasel words.
Method of Research
To conduct the study, first I learned the theories of advertising language
from several sources. Then I collected information and theories that will support
the language analysis. After that, I collected some weight loss product
advertisements from the Internet and analyzed the language by using the theories
of False Claims (Blackburn) and Weasel Words (Lutz). Finally, I reported the
results in this thesis.
Organization of the Thesis
This thesis consists of four chapters. Chapter One presents the
Introduction, which contains the Background of the Study, Statement of the
Problem, Purpose of the Study, Method of Research, and Organization of the
Thesis. Chapter Two puts forward the Theoretical Framework. The next chapter,
Chapter Three, contains the analysis of false claims and weasel words in the data
of weight loss product advertisements. This thesis ends with the conclusion in
Chapter Four, which is followed by the Bibliography.
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CHAPTER FOUR
CONCLUSION
This thesis has presented the analysis of false claims and weasel words in
six on-line advertisements of weight loss products, namely PROACTOL,
FULFILL PLUS, SLIMKICK, LI-DA, ACAIMAX CLEANSE, and CAPSIPLEX.
The theory of false claims belongs to George L. Blackburn, whereas the theory of
weasel words is taken from William Lutz’s book entitled Doublespeak.
From the analysis it is found that all the ads in the data have used false
claims and weasel words. These two methods are used to make the ads sound
convincing so that consumers will purchase and consume the products. However,
the promises presented in the ads should not be regarded as always true because if
the products were truly guaranteed, the ads would have provided scientific data
authorized by a formal medical institution and would not have used false claims
and weasel words to impress consumers.
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In the data of this thesis, the nine of Blackburn’s false claims have been
used 15 times, but the most frequently used false claims are natural & safe
claims (4 times), scientific claim (2 times), and lose weight without
exercise/diet claim (2 times). These claims are the most effective to attract
consumers because generally people prefer a safe and easy weight loss program to
one that requires a longer time and makes use of dubious ingredients.
A natural claim is purposively designed to attract consumers who prefer
products that have natural ingredients and think that natural substances are always
safe to consume. Therefore, natural & safe claims are used to convince them that
the advertised product is safe to consume so that they will feel confident to buy
the product. Unfortunately, however, some natural ingredients are not safe to
consume. Ephedrine, for instance, is harmful for the human heart and it can result
in serious organ injuries for some people (Blackburn 20). Cerbera manghas can
affect cardiac work, whereas some mushrooms are found to be poisonous (“Buah
Bintaro, Buah Beracun yang Berguna). Scientific claim is made to make
consumers believe that the product they are going to consume is safe because the
product has been researched to prove its legitimacy. Lastly, the claim of losing
significant weight without exercise or diet must have been created to attract either
busy people who have limited time to do physical exercise or people who like
eating a lot but have no strong will to leave this habit. This claim can make
consumers be dazzled with the idea of losing weight without effort, which may
lead them to buy the product.
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Some false claims occur only once in the data; they are rapid weight loss,
before/after, customer’s testimonial, permanent weight loss claim, and no more
failure. All these claims are also helpful to advertise the weight loss products but
when compared to natural claim, scientific claim and lose weight without
exercise/diet, it is apparent that they are less often used. The only claim that does
not occur in the data is money-back guarantee claim. In my opinion, many
companies would feel reluctant to make this claim because they know that to lose
substantial weight, one needs a long term process while it is potential that the
weight will be gained back. With this knowledge, the companies realize that they
cannot promise consumers a guarantee let alone money-back guarantee.
False claims are used in ads to mislead consumers by giving dishonest
promises whereas weasel words, such as help, new, improved, fast, act and like
magic, have a different function. Weasel words are generally words that do not
have an exact meaning so that they may seem to say something but they really do
not. In the data, some weasel words are also used to strengthen certain false
claims, for instance help on page 21 of this thesis. Some others, namely, virtually,
like, improved, act, work, which also belong to Lutz’s weasel words, are not found
in the data. In my opinion, this fact is due to the type of the advertised product. In
the advertisements of many other products, those weasel words are easily found.
Two weasel words, namely new and help/assist are found to be the most
frequently used in the six ads. Both weasel words are used to convince consumers
that the advertised products are worth buying, although they are not. The word
new is used in the ad to convince consumers that the product is different from any
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previous product; nevertheless, the advertiser does not show or explain the
changes made to the product. The ad persuades consumers to think that the
product has been an innovation in the weight loss product industry and it promises
a successful result. In this case, the word new is a weasel word as it makes the ad
seem to claim something while in fact it claims nothing.
The other weasel word that most frequently appears in the data is help/
assist, which occurs, for example, in data 3: help boost your weight loss. By using
the word help, the ad does not mean to solve consumers’ weight problem or
eliminate their fat. The word is used just to support the dramatic result of the word
related to it or placed after it, namely boost, which leads consumers to forget the
word help/assist and focus on the effect of boost your weight loss only. Critical
consumers will realize that the word help should be interpreted as “help to a
certain degree,” which can be so limited that the effect is not significant.
In the findings, there are also two unfinished words, namely the word
more in SlimKick can help your body burn more calories in the third data and the
word better in increase energy and feel better in the fifth data. The advertiser
intentionally leaves those sentences unfinished and lets consumers make their own
claim by finishing the sentence according to their own unrealistic thought. As can
be seen in the third data, the word more is used to bring an idea of the calorie
amount that can be burned by this product. However, without finishing the
comparison, the consumers will not know “it burns more calories than what
product?”
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In the fifth data, the word better is also made unfinished so that consumers
do not know “feel better than which situation?” Thus, after reading the claim
increase energy and feel better, consumers may think that this product will make
them feel better because it increases their energy. This possibility will enable the
advertiser to promote their product without having to promise anything even
though consumers may see many promises in the unfinished sentence.
On the whole, I arrive at a conclusion that both the false claims and the
weasel words are designed to mislead consumers and to convince them that the
advertised product is effective; therefore, the selling of the product will be
boosted. These designed methods are commonly used because many prospective
consumers will only be attracted to buy a product if the ad claims that the product
is effective and worth buying, even if the claim is false.
By understanding the style of the advertising language, consumers will be
more careful in buying weight loss products. They will understand the hidden
meaning of the false claims and the weasel words so that they will not buy an
unworthy product, which could not only make them feel disappointed but could
also harm their health. Consequently, understanding the use of false claims and
weasel words in English ads is also important for English learners in Indonesia to
make them more aware of the real message behind the advertising language.
Therefore, teachers are encouraged to include this topic in their teaching material
to make their students more critical.
Words: 1,274
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books
“Better.” Cambridge Advance Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Singapore: Green
GiantPress,2008.Print.
“Entirely.” Cambridge Advance Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Singapore: Green
Giant Press, 2008.Print.
“Fast.” Cambridge Advance Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Singapore: Green
Giant Press, 2008.Print.
“Help.” Cambridge Advance Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Singapore: Green
Giant Press, 2008.Print.
“New.” Cambridge Advance Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Singapore: Green
Giant Press, 2008.Print.
“Natural.” Cambridge Advance Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Singapore: Green
Giant Press, 2008.Print.
“Organic.” Cambridge Advance Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Singapore: Green
Giant Press, 2008.Print.
“Up to.” Cambridge Advance Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Singapore: Green
Giant Press, 2008.Print.
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Lutz, William. Doublespeak. New York: HarperCollins Publisher, 1989. Print.
Websites
Blackburn, George L. “Weight-Loss Advertising: An Analysis of Current
Trends.” United States: Federal Trade Commission, 2002. Web. 9
September 2011.
Carol, Robert Todd. “From Becoming a Critical Thinker.” Web. 3 October 2011
Hardayanto, Maria. “Buah Bintaro, Buah Beracun yang Berguna.” (Bintaro Fruit,
Poisonous but Useful). Web. 1 November 2011.
Himanshu. “10 Reason why people use Internet.” Web. 2 October 2011.
“Internet Users in the World.” Miniwatts Marketing Group, 2011. Web. 2
October 2011.
“KitKat Works Like a Machine.” N.p. N.d. Web. 30 December 2011
“Obesity and Overweight.” WHO, 2011. Web. 1 October 2011.
“Obat Pelangsing dan Pengaruhnya Terhadap Ginjal.” (Slimming Products and
their Effects on Kidneys). Admin, 2009. Web. 24 October 2011.
Schrank, Jeffrey. “The Language of Advertising Claims.” Web. 5 October 2011.
Source of Data
PROACTOL. Web. 18 September 2011.
FULFILL PLUS. Web. 25 September 2011.
SLIMKICK. Web. 24 September 2011.
LI-DA. Web. 24 September 2011.
ACAIMAX CLEASE. Web. 24 September 2011.
CAPSIPLEX. Web. 1 October 2011.
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