Puffery

Puffery is a promotional statement or claim that expresses subjective rather than objective
views, which no "reasonable person" would take literally.[1] Puffery serves to "puff up" an
exaggerated image of what is being described and is especially featured in testimonials.
Advertisers try to persuade people to buy a product or service through various
methods. A company may deliver an entertaining message about its product,
compare the product to a similar item, list facts about the product, or make vague
claims about the product which cannot be proved or disproved. This last method is
known as "puffery" the advertiser "puffs up" the product to seem like more than it
is. Puffery is not illegal and is a common method used in advertising.
Puffery is characterized by exaggeration and hyperbole. "The best hamburger in the
world" is so beyond belief that a reasonable person would not take the claim
seriously. Advertisers use exaggeration and hyperbole to get people's attention and
make their message memorable. Because the claims in puffery are obviously
exaggerated, and because exaggeration works to get people's attention, puffery is
an accepted advertising technique.
In a legal context, the term originated in the 1892 English Court of Appeal case
Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Company, which centred on whether a monetary
reimbursement should be paid when an influenza preventive device failed to work.
The manufacturers had paid for advertising stating that 100 would be paid in such
circumstances then failed to follow this promise. Part of their defence was that such
a statement was "mere puff" and not meant to be taken seriously. While the defence
ultimately lost the case the principle was confirmed that certain statements made
by advertisers, that were obviously not made in a serious manner, could be exempt
from usual rules relating to promises in open contracts.

Jingles and slogans

The jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the
product being advertised, usually through the use of one or more advertising
slogans. Ad buyers use jingles in radio and television commercials; they can also
be used in non-advertising contexts to establish or maintain a brand image.
Jingles have been around since the advent of commercial radio in the early 1920s,
when advertisers used musical, flowery language in their ads. But it was on
Christmas Eve, 1926 in Minneapolis, Minn., that the modern commercial jingle was
born when an a cappella group called the Wheaties Quartet sang out in praise of a
General Mills breakfast cereal. Executives at General Mills were actually about to
discontinue Wheaties when they noticed a spike in its popularity in the regions
where the jingle aired. So the company decided to air the jingle nationally, and sales
went through the roof. Eighty years later, Wheaties is a staple in kitchens across the
globe.

A good jingle can do wonders for business -- it can save a dying brand, introduce a new item to a
broader audience and rejuvenate a lackluster product. The histories of the jingle and commercial
radio are inextricably entwined. Prior to the popularization of radio, products were sold on a oneon-one basis (at the store, or by a traveling salesman), and advertisements from those days reflect
that. They are very direct, matter-of-factly describing the benefits of their product over their
competitor's. But as the radio audience grew, advertisers had to convince the public of the
superiority of a product they couldn't see -- for this purpose, jingles were ideal.
In the 1950s, jingles reached their commercial and artistic peak. Famous songwriters penned
slogans, and the copyrights were granted to jingle composers rather than the manufacturing
company.
Jingles were an advertiser's dream for the same reason the public can grow to hate them: You
can't get them out of your head. But, as with most other stimuli, the more you experience them,
the less of an effect they have on you. The widespread use of jingles on radio and TV has caused
the newest generation of consumers to see them as hokey.
As we've mentioned, the commercial licensing of pop songs caused the decline of the jingle. In
1987, the Beatles tune "Revolution" was licensed for a Nike shoe campaign, which would prove
to be the start of a revolution in advertising. As markets became increasingly clogged with
indistinguishable products, it was no longer possible (or relevant) to tout the absolute supremacy
of a product. To gain a loyal brand following, a good product was simply not enough -- a
company now had to represent a lifestyle or an identity. Piggybacking on emotional and cultural
experience became the most effective way to sell products. It's widely known that most humans
have a deep emotional connection to music -- so instead of trying to form a new connection with

consumers, why not let the Rolling Stones, Mike and the Mechanics, Fall Out Boy or Bob Seger
do it for you?
Music purists derided the commercialization of their favorite tunes, and musicians who wanted
to be considered "serious artists" vowed never to allow their songs to be used in a marketing
campaign. In the 1980s, Sting famously rebuffed an offer to use the Police song "Don't Stand So
Close To Me" in a deodorant commercial (but he and his music later went on to star in a Jaguar
campaign in 2000). But for all the cries of ruination, these ad campaigns have significantly
helped revive the music of several critically acclaimed but widely unknown musicians -- like
Nick Drake, Stereolab and Spiritualized. In fact, marketers are quick to point out that much of
the hype surrounding the licensing of pop songs for commercials comes from major record
labels. Major labels are in crisis mode, desperately seeking new ways to promote their albums.
Deals with advertisers -- and prime-time shows like "Grey's Anatomy" -- have helped record
companies find new ways to promote their music and create additional revenue streams.
Product placement, the conspicuous inclusion of name-brand products in TV shows and
movies, has also gained hold in recent years. With the invention of the digital video recorder
(DVR), viewers can now fast-forward through commercials, forcing companies to find more
clever ways to advertise their products.
Fashion is cyclical, though, and advertising is no exception to the rule. The ubiquity that led to
the demise of jingles and the rise of licensed music is causing the pendulum to swing the other
way. The cost of licensing music is getting higher as it becomes more popular, and jingles are
being rediscovered for their promotional value in small and local markets. There may never be
another "I'm stuck on Band-Aid, 'cause Band-Aid's stuck on me," but the jingle has proven itself
as a tried-and-true technique for advertisers trying to worm their way into our brains.
http://money.howstuffworks.com/commercial-jingle4.htm
SLOGANS
Slogans come in two types, with barely anything in between. There are those,
comparatively few in number, that one remembers effortlessly, with correct brand
attribution, sometimes long after they have received any promotional expenditure.
In this camp come 'Just do it', 'Because you're worth it' and 'The world's favourite
airline'.

Product
or Company

First
use

Author or
Agency
(if known)

Slogans- A

diamond is
forever.

DeBeers 1948

Source and notes

Puffery in old times ads

Puffery in recent ads