In the specific case of MasterCard slogan, they present us with just two choices: 1) you don't need money for some stuff and 2) for the stuff that you need money for, you use MasterCard. As an advertising strategy, they chose to omit other possibilities, such as using money, Visa, American Express, etc. Thus, they are putting people in a false dilemma since we actually have many choices to choose from.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Fallacy: MasterCard
We've all seen MasterCard commercials before, and they've all ended in the saying, "There are some things money can't buy--for everything else, there's MasterCard." As catchy as it may sound, MasterCard's mantra does not contain much truth. It is an example of a fallacy, particularly a false dilemma. This fallacy, also known as "black and white thinking," involves a situation where only two alternatives are brought up, even though there are many more possibilities. In other words, false dilemmas cause people to think that they must pick between two choices, when in actuality, there are much more.
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I feel that all advertisements are meant to have some sort of false dilemma. An advertisement obviously cannot be promoting a different product other than its own. However, as long as the advertisement does not include false information on the actual product, then whatever marketing strategies it employs is essentially legal. That's why those medical commercials try to skim through the negative side effects as quickly as possible to promote the benefits.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Danny, if you are advertising a product, your goal is to sell the product. As long as the information provided in the commercials is valid and true then there isn't a problem. Especially with mastercard commercials, they provide a parody but involve various scenarios depending on what time they are broadcasted and between what programs they are broadcasted.
ReplyDeleteMastercard commercials definitely do give a false sense of security because they appeal to people's everday lives and make people feel that with this card problems can be fixed.
ReplyDeletei totally agree
ReplyDeleteStill, it's a great commercial. . .
ReplyDelete