What’s Gotta Go

In our world of weak lawsuits with no merit, everyone has to protect themselves with terms and conditions.  These lists seem to get longer and longer, and of course are presented in a way that hopefully you won’t pay attention to them.  A great example of this is the drug ads in magazines that have an entire page or multiple pages of tiny text terms that explain all the possible side effects and other legal mumbo jumbo.  In print, at least you can take the time to read it if you want.

TV ads love to show you one thing and tell you the exact opposite in the tiny text.  The best of this text of course is all the car ads that show “closed course, professional driver, don’t try this at home, etc.”  I can usually read this text, but it cracks me up every time.  Look at how fun our SUV/truck/sports car is; you can do this crazy fast stuff, but not really.  Buy our SUV because you COULD do it, but you shouldn’t.  We know really you will just drive it around town where the biggest 4 wheelin’ you will do is the speed bump in the mall parking lot.

I have done some video work in my days, so I know a bit of the technical specifications of broadcast video.  “Old” traditional video is broadcast at 352×240 pixels.  By comparison, most computer screens are at least 1024×768 pixels.  Even high definition broadcast is 1280×720, which is then spread out across the size of your screen.  Most of us out there don’t have the latest in pricey TVs, (though we do try), but even then this terms text is impossibly small to read.  Advertisers know this, but they are somehow complying to the law I am sure.

Tonight I just saw a new ad that actually had many lines of text in a small box scrolling so fast even a competition speed reader couldn’t keep up, much less read the minuscule font the used for display.  What’s up with that?  How is this telling us anything to be aware of?  How are we protected as a consumer by any applicable terms or disclaimers.  Simple answer, of course we are not.

Of course, I have a DVR, so often I am not seeing these commercials anyway.  I guess if I really cared I could try and pause and read the terms carefully.  Sports and news channels can give me clearly legible updates across the bottom of the screen – shouldn’t advertisers need to do the same?  Oh wait, that would mean we could actually be informed consumers…we wouldn’t want that.