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🤥Preposterous advertising lies (IG example)

🤥Preposterous advertising lies (IG example)

March 10, 2025

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🤥Preposterous advertising lies

Good Monday morning, Inbox Hackers. Hope the weekend treated you better than life’s treating this master criminal.

Today, we’re getting into believability in ads. I’ll drop some insights on what makes ads believable while still being compelling and even exciting. A ridiculous Instagram ad got me thinking about this topic.

Monday Marketing News will come after that story. Let’s get into it…

Advertising Lies

Brace yourself for the most dishonest ad I’ve ever seen.

Sure, the facts in the ad are true - I guess. But there’s no way in hell Instagram wants a parent to control their kid’s use of Instagram.

Just like R.J. Reynolds did not want parents to keep cigarette smoke out of their kids’ lungs. Good ole R.J. is below (known liar and addict creator).

Meta owns Instagram. Meta makes money by corralling human beings’ attention so Meta can sell advertising. Why would the company ever be motivated to reduce time spent on their platforms?

Were that their goal, they could simply set their money on fire. It’d save time.

No. Meta is not interested in slowing down teenagers’ use of Instagram. A cold-blooded corporation is not interested in creating safe online environments for kids if it hurts said corporation’s bottom line.

So, my question is, who in the world believes the advertising lie (allegedly) I showed above? Who is the target of that ad? People with no IQ remaining? Or none to start with?

It’s insane that Meta would waste money on such an ad, right?

You or I can’t do that because we don’t have 89 gazillion dollars like the Zuckster. However, there is an advertising lesson to be learned here.

Advertising Lies’ Bright Side

First, the good news, before the helpful lesson this teaches.

If your brand is promoting helpful products and services… And your ads are believable (while still being compelling and tugging on emotions), then your ads will work on consumers.

After all, some people, somewhere, will believe the Instagram advertising lie of “Go Away New Users, We Don’t Want Your Attention On Our Attention-Vampire App.” If you’re one of those believers, I’ve got a meme coin to sell you and a 3-step course on how to make your own meme coin.

So, the good news is this. Make good stuff. Craft compelling, honest ads. And you can expect sales.

Now for the lesson.

Meta doesn’t really expect many people to believe the Instagram ad I showed you.

They simply expect an age-old tactic to work like it always has…

Propaganda.

Repeat a message long enough and people will begin to believe it. This is especially true for super-busy people (and MO-rons).

Heck, I consider myself pretty aware, but if I mess around and look at that IG advertising lie (allegedly), I might subconsciously start to think it could be true on some level (((IMO it’s not))).

That’s the takeaway for your advertising. The simplest way to advertise your offers is to repeat your message over and over. Again and again. Repeatedly. Until you’re sick of seeing them yourself. Then, keep on putting the message out to the public.

Repetition is irresistible. No need to use advertising lies. Use honest propaganda to your advantage. Put your marketing messages and ads on repeat. This also saves you the trouble of coming up with endless new creative ideas to promote your goods and services.

Now for those insights on advertising believability I promised.

Foundations of Advertising Believability

Via the University of Georgia

Reliability: Consistency between advertised promises and product performance
Usefulness: Perceived relevance of ad information to consumer needs
Affect: Emotional responses elicited by the ad’s tone and imagery
Willingness to Rely On: Likelihood of using ad content in purchase decisions

Bonus Insights

Cognitive fluency—the ease with which ads are processed—further enhances believability
Nearly 60% of advertising’s overall contribution to profit occurs over the long term (week 14 to two years)
Native ads are seen as more trustworthy, creating an 18% increase in purchase intent and 9% higher brand affinity than banner ads

Monday’s Marketing News coming up…

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