Applying Your Understanding of Fallacies - Essay Example

Fallacies in advertisements The first fallacy that would be discussed is hasty generalization. A young Asian woman dressed in beige camisole is seenin the print ad of Imedeen. The tagline for the ad “my secret to beautiful skin, I swallow’. Indeed, the ad raised furor among women since the ad sends out confusing messages laced with sexual undertones. Before discussion of the issues would be presented, it is proper to establish that the purpose of the said advertisement was to promote a skin pill known as “Imedeen” to females in Singapore.

From the age of the model, the niches of the product are young women in their early twenties. What may seem as a simple marketing campaign became an issue for moral panic. For one, critics viewed the ad as racist since it promotes white skin as the foremost criteria in being beautiful. Sadly, Singapore is also a melting pot of various Asian races such as Filipinos, Thais, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Malaysian and Japanese. This ad imposed on the mind of Asian women that fair skin makes one beautiful and brown Asian skin is unacceptable.

This is where Focault’s regime of truth sets in. As Hall ( 1997 , p.49) argues “ not of the truth of knowledge in the absolute sense, a Truth which remained so, whatever the period, setting , context- but of a discursive formation sustaining a regime of truth”. The media disseminates a certain truth that public unknowingly digests and accepts as valid. Most ironic of all, the product does not really promise fair skin but better skin texture. stereotype that affects the behavior of the general population.

Aside from this, the advertisement is misleading since the product delivers something different from what is promised. The second fallacy is about sports nutrition. Gatorade has been very aggressive in promoting its new line of products because it faces tough competition from Powerade. Gatorade uses popular sports stars to speak about its products such as Michael Jordan that boosted the sales of Gatorade. This type of fallacy is actually known as appeal to authority because people tend to accept what famous people say about a certain product.

Today, Gatorade is still endorsed by popular and upcoming athletes. The truth behind this issue about hydration is that water alone can replenish the body. However, further studies reveal that it is difficult to recommend a specific fluid and electrolyte replacement schedule because of different exercise tasks (metabolic requirements, duration, clothing, equipment),weather conditions, and other factors (e.g., genetic predisposition, heat acclimatization and training status) influencing a person`s sweating rate and sweat electrolyte concentrations according to the American Council of Sports Medicine study on “Exercise and Fluid Replacement”.

People need not buy expensive sports drinks to regulate their body’s thirst because the body has its own mechanisms. The third fallacy which is actually in comedic proportions because people are so gullible about exercise gadgets that promote losing abdominal fat. There are two kinds of fallacy used: appeal to ignorance and weak analogy. Ordinary people do not understand the composition of abdominal fat thereby believe anything that promises them a quick solution. It takes aerobic exercises and a sensible diet to lose inches from the waist because the spot reducing gadget is simply a myth.

Ab roller uses fancy terms such as “patented rocker system “ that amazes the common person. Everything seemed scientific so people buy the product. In fact, individuals would never see their abdominal muscles unless they strip off fat first no matter if a thousand crunches on a certain machine or equipment is done. Indeed, it is sad that people fall victims to these shameless ads because the general population do not want to conduct their own research. WORKS CITED Hall,S.(1997). Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices.

New York: Sage Publication. 49.