Magic ingredients and clinical tests in commercials as advertising strategies

Abstract

In this paper we analyse several television commercials shown on Spanish national TV channels. There are two different kinds of advertising slogans to increase credibility of the advertised products: spots which make reference to nmagic ingredientsn, which are subject to trends and designed to make the target audience fantazise about the characteristics of these products; and secondly, we detect a growing number of advertisements which make reference to the product having been scientifically tested. However, complaints by consumers' organisations and the scientific community are on the rise concerning the abusive use of scientific terrninology on television advertising, as well as the lack of scientific reality of the claims made in the commercials..