[HN Gopher] The Languages of Media - Advertising Techniques
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       The Languages of Media - Advertising Techniques
        
       Author : yamrzou
       Score  : 43 points
       Date   : 2023-12-04 12:32 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (books.lib.uoguelph.ca)
 (TXT) w3m dump (books.lib.uoguelph.ca)
        
       | Biologist123 wrote:
       | I'm very enthusiastic about the possibility that someone will
       | shortly build an AI plugin that identifies use of propaganda and
       | "advertising techniques" as I browse the web. A lot of this stuff
       | flies under my radar and having a guide to help me out is
       | something I would really value, for me and my children.
       | 
       | I should add I've checked out whether ChatGPT can do this, and
       | discovered it can do a reasonable job - even back in the days of
       | 3.5.
        
         | ssivark wrote:
         | How did you use ChatGPT for this?
        
           | Biologist123 wrote:
           | I gave it a piece of text from a Guardian op ed and asked it
           | to identify the rhetorical devices used in the piece.
           | 
           | I suspect it would be possible to now create a GPT by
           | uploading a file listing the various rhetorical/propaganda
           | tricks deployed in media and then asking the GPT to analyse
           | submitted text from that perspective.
        
             | graphe wrote:
             | At that point, you should ask yourself what is the function
             | of news? The whole of information is editorial. Aside from
             | technical information which is factual, even discussing
             | 'kinds of' news is biased.
             | 
             | You could maybe aggregate biased news like "trump supporter
             | did this" or "patriot did that" and it would just tell you
             | "someone was shot in a place you never heard of".
        
       | droopyEyelids wrote:
       | Fun article. The Weasel Words technique is what I notice most in
       | my day to day life. Here are two of my favorite examples:
       | 
       | 1) Sales advertised as _" Save up to x%"_... This means the
       | _most_ you can possibly save is x%. Saving zero percent
       | definitely is definitely a possibility! Hell, they could say a
       | price increase is a savings of a negative precent.
       | 
       | 2) On some diaper packaging it says _" Guaranteed to prevent up
       | to 100% of leaks!"_ I had to do a double take when I read that.
       | Was it written as a joke? Because I had to laugh. A bare onesie
       | with no diaper at all could make the same claim!
        
         | Veserv wrote:
         | Good old Monkey's Paw truth. Technically true, but
         | substantially false.
         | 
         | It really should be fraud if you have to defend yourself in
         | court by saying: "Well, technically...".
         | 
         | A marketing can be useful if it is meant to inform. However, a
         | marketing organization spending their time focus grouping a
         | statement until the average listener comes to the wrong,
         | overstated conclusion is the definition of deliberate deception
         | meant to bewilder and confuse.
         | 
         | The standard we should demand is that marketing must
         | deliberately aim to inform. They must focus group until the
         | average listener comes to the correct or understated
         | conclusion. A failure to do so (when expending serious
         | marketing resources) should be counted as fraud.
         | 
         | We should demand marketing be held to moral standards higher
         | than a Monkey's Paw.
        
       | RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote:
       | I also love the mathematical tautologies.
       | 
       | (On a 14 oz container) Now with 40% more than 10 oz.
       | 
       | Or on a urinal 1 liter per flush urinal:
       | 
       | Uses just a quarter of the water as a gallon per flush urinal.
        
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       (page generated 2023-12-05 23:01 UTC)