11 Secrets Advertisers Don’t Want You to Know

Summary

This video script reveals 11 sneaky advertising tricks designed to entice consumers into spending more. From repackaging mundane items as trendy, using psychological menu tactics, and playing on our emotions with family-themed images, to strategic pricing, creating product legends, and exploiting our laziness with packaging, advertisers aim to boost sales. They also manipulate our perceptions with authority claims, gender-based pricing, and misrepresenting product content. The script humorously suggests that some tricks are so unfair they should be banned.

Takeaways

• 🎂 **Trendy Products**: Rebranding simple goods can make them trendy and desirable, like turning ordinary cakes into 'fancy cupcakes'.
• 🍲 **Psychological Menu Tricks**: Restaurants use family images, appetizing descriptions, strategic placement, warm colors, and price tricks to influence your order.
• 💸 **Comparison Trick**: Placing a more expensive similar product makes the original seem cheaper, increasing its sales.
• 📜 **Product Legends**: Creating a legend or story around a product can make it more memorable and appealing.
• 🛒 **Exploiting Laziness**: Packaging goods in a way that encourages you to buy more than you need, like multi-packs.
• 🏷️ **Price Tag Psychology**: Red tags are associated with discounts, even if the price hasn't changed.
• 🛒 **Shopping Cart Tactics**: Large carts and store layouts that encourage a left-to-right movement can lead to more purchases.
• 👣 **Floor Design**: Small tiles that make carts noisy slow you down, making you more likely to look at and buy offers.
• 💊 **Double the Usage**: Ads showing people using two pieces of gum or applying shampoo twice suggest it's the norm, increasing consumption.
• ✅ **Adding Authority**: Manufacturers add perceived authority to products by associating them with exotic ingredients or endorsements.
• 💰 **Gender Pricing**: Products marketed to women often cost more due to the 'pink tax', even if they are similar to men's products.
• 📝 **Misrepresentation**: Food product descriptions can be misleading, like calling a product 'cheese' when it contains less than 51% real cheese.
• ⏱️ **Shortening Product Life**: Making products less durable ensures repeat purchases, like making peelers that wear out quickly.

Q & A

What is the first trick advertisers use to make people buy trendy products?

Advertisers rebrand simple goods with a new look or recipe to make them trendy, such as turning ordinary cakes into fancy cupcakes, which can then be marketed as a new, desirable product.

How do restaurants use psychological tricks in their menu to make customers order more?

Restaurants use family images, appetizing descriptions, prominent placement of dishes, warm colors, and price tricks to entice customers to order more or choose more expensive items.

What is the significance of the upper part of a menu in relation to customer orders?

The upper part of the menu is where customers look first, so restaurants place the most visually appealing and expensive dishes there to increase the chances of them being ordered.

How do warm colors influence a customer's appetite in a restaurant setting?

Warm colors like yellow, red, and orange are scientifically proven to arouse appetite better, which is why they are often used by food advertisers and in restaurant decor.

What is the purpose of using a comparison trick in marketing?

The comparison trick is used to make a product seem cheaper by placing a similar but more expensive product next to it, thereby increasing the sales of the initially perceived expensive item.

How does creating a legend for a product influence customers' perception?

Creating a legend or a unique story for a product can make it more memorable and give it a distinguishing feature, even if the story doesn't make logical sense, as seen with the Milky Way commercial.

What psychological association do customers have with a red price tag in stores?

Customers tend to associate a red price tag with a reduced cost or a sale, even if the price remains the same and the tag is just a marketing tactic to draw attention.

How do large carts influence a customer's purchasing behavior?

Large carts encourage customers to buy more than they need because they provide more space for items and can create a subconscious desire to fill the cart.

Why do advertisers show people taking two pieces of gum at a time in commercials?

Showing people take two pieces of gum at a time in ads is a trick to make customers believe that's the correct usage, leading them to consume and buy more gum.

What is the 'pink tax' mentioned in the script, and why is it considered unfair?

The 'pink tax' refers to the phenomenon where products marketed towards women, like shampoos and shaving accessories, cost on average 7% more than similar products for men, often due to color differences alone.

How do manufacturers misrepresent the content of food products like Pringles and cheese slices?

Manufacturers might label products with terms that suggest a higher content of the main ingredient than is actually present, such as Pringles having only 42% potato content or cheese slices containing less than 51% real cheese.

What was the strategy used by Hinkles to increase sales of their potato peelers in 1957?

Hinkles painted the handles of their potato peelers the color of potato skin, causing people to accidentally throw them away with the peels, which led to customers needing to buy new peelers more often.