Unit 6 9—15
As globalization develops, advertising becomes a universal enterprise. In this article, the author introduces six kinds of claims. They are respectively weasel claim, “water is wet” claim, “so what” claim, scientific or statistical claim, “compliment the consumer” claim, rhetorical question. Before I read the paragraph 9, if someone tells me the weasel claim such as “only half the price of many color sets”, I could not understand why the claim is named “the weasel claim”. Through reading, I learn the new form of address for claim and I know an interesting story of the egg-eating habits of weasels. I think it looks like one of Chinese idiom. It says “a rotten interior beneath a fine exterior”.
In paragraph 9, I still have problems. In my major class, “integrate” is an important word and my teacher emphasizes its meaning. When I read it in the paragraph, I dare to be sure what the meaning of “integrate” is. It means to take an action that causes (an organization or group) to bring into it people who have been kept separated previously. And “dis-”is negative prefix. So I guess “disintegrate” means to become weaker or be destroyed by breaking into small pieces. In this sentence, the better expression is that words or claims should be analyzed step by step. What is the meaning of “one”? Does it mean “by” or “through”? It confuses me. Then I consult the explanation of text, “on” means “at the time of” in the sentence. As to the explanation, it is my understanding that if you want to know which claim belongs to the weasel claim, your analysis should be proceed step by step.
After I learned the paragraph 9, I solved some problems, but also one word gives me an alarm bell. It is “substantial”, because I always mix the meanings between “substantial” and “subsidiary”. In paragraph 10, it mentions the “water is wet” claim. I think it is simple to me. It is my understanding that the “water is wet” claim is a universal ad; we also can watch it in any places. In my opinion, there are many “water is wet” advertising claims of water and cosmetics of cleaning face in china.
In paragraph 11, it shows the “so what” claim. This is the kind of claim to which the careful reader will react by saying, “So What?” I think it only confuses the careless reader to buy the products. The author gives two examples to explain what the “so what” claim is. In these two claims, either Geritol or Campbell gives no real advantage to the product. They only claim an advantage that is not shared by most of the other brands in the product category. And they are better than other brands in quantities. Does the presence of two stocks improve the taste? I do not think so. If the stock is not delicious or the chicken is small, the second stock becomes meaninglessness and waste. Do we support the behavior? “But is it twice as beneficial to the body?” attracts me. Some words are omitted in the sentence. The complete sentence would be: But is it twice as beneficial to the body as ordinary supplements.
In paragraph 12, “helps” interests me. Obviously, the claim combines the weasel with scientific or statistical, but why does the author mention “even the weasel ‘helps’ did not prevent the FTC from demanding that this ad be withdrawn”? Maybe Wonder Bread appears substantial at first glance but disintegrates into hollow meaninglessness on analysis. It has no twelve different ways to help building strong bodies. Although they use the scientific data, FTC thinks it is a cheating claim and in fact it has no scientific evident, even it will harm the benefits of consumers.
