1. Use of Science in Advertising
1950s to Present
©2013 Robert Chuckrow

2. Early Advertising
Words such as tender, sweet, crisp, convenient, tasty, flavorful, spicy, fresh, and better were used in early ads.

4. Early Use of Science
In the 1950s and even before, advertising of laundry detergent, food, soda, cigarettes, soaps, and weight-loss programs made reference to scientific terms and evidence. Early cigarette ads showed famous people—movie stars, singers and athletes who smoked. Later, ads featured doctors recommending smoking cigarettes. Next, the cigarette ads referred to scientific evidence.

5. The next two ads show famous people endorsing the product.

8. Einstein died in 1955, which casts a cloud on the 2004 Mentos ad.

9. In some ads, manufacturers suggested unique ways of using their products:

14. Cigarette ads started to imply that smoking cigarettes was healthy:

20. Radio and TV Host, Arthur Godfrey, shown smoking a cigarette in the previous slide, coined the phrase “Smoke ‘em by the carton” while advertising the cigarettes, telling people not to smoke but, if they did, to smoke Chesterfields (presumably by the carton!). Godfrey, a long-time smoker, was diagnosed with lung cancer that had spread to his aorta in Surgery to remove one lung and radiation treatments followed. He spoke out against smoking after that on the air, saying that he believed cigarettes had caused his cancer. This ended the relationship with Chesterfield. Against all odds, Arthur Godfrey recovered from lung cancer and went on to live another 24 years.

21. Science Discovered it, You can prove it

22. • In the early 1960s, the cigarette industry gave the American Medical Association (AMA) $10,000, every year to find if there were any health hazards to smoking. Each year the AMA reported not finding any.
• In 1964, however, the U.S. Surgeon General announced that the evidence pointed to a causal relationship between smoking and lung cancer, ending the AMA’s research.

23. Next, manufacturers claimed scientific evidence for their products by citing dubious clinical studies and supposed proof:

27. From the Preceding Blurry Paragraph:
NUTRITION NEWS
Using data from one of the largest studies ever made on nutrition conducted by Government health agencies, experts from leading universities identified differences in people’s diets (published in “The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition”). It was found that soup can be a significant part of a balanced, healthful diet.

29. The “Fabulous Formula Diet”
Note that Mazola oil (pure fat) and Karo syrup (pure sugar) are both products of the corn industry. How much money was paid to the Rockefeller Institute for doing the medical research to come up with that “diet”?

31. The Aqua Velva Text Enlarged

32. More than for herpes, shingles, skin cancer, growths, rashes, acne, hives, fungal infections, warts, or burns?

33. Advertising Using Fear and Pseudoscience
In the 1970s through 1990s, margarine manufacturers started to use scare tactics and pseudoscience in promoting their products.
Click the links below to view margarine advertisements:
Ad 1, 1974:
Ad 2, 1991:

34. What’s Wrong with Ad 1?

35. What’s Wrong with Ad 1?
The “study” is unscientific because there were no controls used. There should have been two groups on the same diet except for one group using Promise Margarine and the other not. Then the cholesterol levels of the two groups should have been compared.

36. What about the graph shown in the first Promise Margarine ad?

37. The misleading graph shown in the first Promise Margarine ad:

39. The way the graph should have been drawn not to be misleading:

41. The FTC Steps In

42. Evolution of Advertising to Now
In 1973, In the movie “sleeper,” Woody Allen, a nerdish store owner, is revived out of cryostasis into the future. He finds out that everything that we thought was bad for us was really good! It seems as though producers of margarine, coffee, wine, and chocolate, then said, “Instead of making groundless claims that the FTC now prohibits, we can use actual scientific research.”

43. Use of “Science” in Advertising
Manufacturers realized that the cheapest way to advertise was to (a) provide money for a grant for scientific research that would show their products in a favorable light, (b) publish the results (if favorable) in a reputable journal, (c) then send the results to the media, and (d) then let the advertising self-perpetuate through word of mouth.

44. The Limitations of Clinical Studies
Bottom Line: A study showing a statistical relationship is insufficient to establish cause and effect. Establishing cause and effect additionally requires (a) showing a chain of connecting mechanisms and (b) the ability to insert additional mechanisms into that chain as more questions and information arise.

45. Example: Smoking and Cancer
Initial statistical studies claiming that cigarette smoking was a cause of cancer were not widely accepted because no mechanism was provided. Further studies isolated harmful agents in cigarette smoke and revealed mechanisms of how these agents produced precancerous conditions in lung tissue. This further evidence led to an acceptance of a cause-and-effect relationship.

46. Double-Blind Studies
Double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials are considered to be the “gold standard” for testing the efficacy of pharmaceuticals. But are they scientifically valid? See short article.

47. ©2013 Robert Chuckrow