Read Online unSpun by Brooks Jackson - Free Book Online Page A

offer a single item at half price and mark down everything else by far smaller amounts, or not at all, and still, technically, be telling the truth.
    Publishers Clearing House became the biggest magazine seller in America using lines such as “You May Already Be a Winner!” on the outside of their mailed sales pitches. “May” was the weasel word: the vast majority of recipients, of course, won nothing. In 2000, California and several other states sued PCH, accusing it of sending deceptive mailings labeled, for example, “[Consumer’s Name]: WINNERS CONFIRMATION FORM ENCLOSED” or “PCH FINAL NOTIFICATION FOR TAX-FREE $11,700,000.00 SUPERPRIZE.” That went beyond weasel wording to imply that the recipients
were
winners, according to the lawsuit. PCH denied any deception but agreed to refund $16 million to certain “high-activity” customers, and to make clear in future mailings that the consumer hadn’t yet been determined to be a winner. Qualifying language was to be equal in prominence to “winner” language.
    More weasel words: Hawaiian Punch “Fruit Juicy Red” is only 5 percent fruit juice, according to the manufacturer. The other 95 percent is nearly all sugar water and coloring. “Juicy” is the weasel word, meaning something less than “juice.” Estée Lauder says its “Skin Perfecting Creme Firming Nourisher” makes “tiny lines seem to disappear.” “Seem” is the weasel word in that pitch; the wrinkles, of course, don’t really disappear. Egg Beaters advertise “the taste of real eggs,” but the product is really only egg whites colored by beta carotene, plus other non-egg ingredients. To get a “taste of” something means you aren’t getting it all.
    Journalists are as guilty as anybody. Words such as “largely” conceal a writer’s ignorance of the true number. “Largely” could mean anything up to half. “Most” means more than half, but how much more? “Several” can mean any number higher than two or three, but less than “many.” A sentence that begins “Fifty-three Nobel Prize–winning scientists” has specific meaning, and the writer should be able to name all fifty-three if challenged. But a sentence that starts with “Many scientists” is a hollow shell that should alert us to the possibility that the writer is a bit hazy about the facts. One of the first things a journalist learns is how to “write around it” when a deadline is looming and there’s no time to fill a factual hole in the story. Readers should be aware of the weasel words used to disguise those holes.
    TRICK #4:
Eye Candy
    I F YOU JUST LISTENED TO THE ANNOUNCER, A TV AD FOR THE ANTIDEPRESSANT prescription drug Paxil CR was quite direct about some of the unpleasant consequences that might result from taking it: “Side effects may include nausea, sweating, sexual side effects, weakness, insomnia, or sleepiness.” But if you just looked at the pictures on screen, you got a totally different impression. An attractive young woman was shown walking her dog in a park, chatting with friends, smiling, obviously depression free. She wasn’t sweating or sick to her stomach. She was strong, not weak. Her eyelids weren’t drooping, nor was she complaining of a sleepless night. The announcer continued: “Don’t stop taking Paxil CR before talking to your doctor, since side effects may result from stopping the medicine.” The announcer was in effect saying that this drug can even cause withdrawal symptoms for those who quit “cold turkey,” but what viewers were seeing on screen were some laughing construction workers happily taking a coffee break from the job. Viewers weren’t seeing any of the undesirable possible side effects they were being told about, and as a result, many of them probably weren’t