The Power of Words: Advertising Tricks The effect that words can have is incredible: to inform, persuade, hurt or ease pain, end war or start one killing thousands or even millions of people. They can get your point across, or destroy any hope of your ideas ever being understood. A major element of advertising is the words, which ones and in what order. The following is several of the specific tricks that are commonly used in advertising. Black/White Trick The black/white, or either/or, trick is making a statement that provides insufficient options to your argument. 'Love it or leave it' was a big slogan of the 1960s, and it sounds logical. Nevertheless, it provides no other possible options, such as' Love it, or don't love it, stay or not, you don't have to agree with me if you don't want to. ' The reason this fallacy is often called the black/white fallacy is that it denies any other choices on an issue or idea. Using it gives the impression that everything can be seen in terms of yes or no, true or false, on or off, with no maybes or both true and false depending on circumstances allowed. This fallacy is particularly popular and effective in slogans like' Love it or leave it', 'If you're not for me, you're against me', 'My country, right or wrong'. Note that all of the above actually have other options, but the statements do not allow for them. A common way in which this trick is used in advertising is by presenting two situations, one with the product and 'the other without. The one with the product shows circumstances that the advertiser presumes the target audience would like to be in, and vice versa for the situation without the product. For example, you have two groups of people: the first is young, beautiful, fit, happy, fun-loving and active the second is old, ugly, miserable, and passive. The first uses the product the second doesn't. The assumption is that the purchase of the product makes you a member of the first, that the absence of the product makes you the second. Since most people would rather be the first, and the product is a part of being the first, then people should buy the product. And they do. Genetic Fallacy The genetic fallacy makes a prediction about something based on where it came from or its origins. For example, saying' He wouldn't do that--he's from a good family' is making a genetic fallacy. 'You can't expect any better from her--she's from the slums' is also using a genetic fallacy. Note that in neither case is there any reference to the individual's personal abilities or lack thereof only to where they came from. In advertising, this fallacy is used often: 'If it's made by [company],it must be good' is an example. Weasel(含糊其辞的)Words Weasel words are those words that are tossed into a sentence that change the actual meaning of the sentence while leaving an impression that is different. It's the easiest way to avoid having to take any responsibility for anything you say, or seem to say. For example, the sentence 'Our canned corn is as good as fresh cooked corn'. The impression given is that the canned corn is as good (whatever that means) as corn on the cob(玉米穗轴) right off the stalk. However, the phrase contains a weasel word:' cooked'. Thus, the sentence actually says that the canned corn is as good as corn that has been cooked now you need to cook it again to serve it. Note the sentence does not say that the canned corn is as good as fresh corn it's as good as fresh cooked corn. A favorite weasel word is one of the shortest: if. 'If the whole wide world can enjoy [use, buy, desire, etc.] [whatever the product is], then so can you' says absolutely nothing about the product, or even if anyone at all enjoys [uses, buys, desires, etc.] the product. It simply says 'if', applied to a totally hypothetical, nonexistent state of being. Another common way o