Logical Fallacy

My Logical Fallacy

      A personal experience that I have had with a logical fallacy is a commercial where the announcer says, “Our product is cheaper than those 'more expensive' brands”. Well, duh! This logical fallacy that I have experienced is “Begging the Claim”. This fallacy is a statement where the conclusion that the writer should prove is validated within the claim.

      When a commercial makes claims similar to this, they make the audience believe that their brand is more affordable. In all actuality, the claim is not proving anything. By definition, calling other brands more expensive means that your brand is already cheaper by comparison. This claim is just restating the obvious fact that their brand is cheaper. What most consumers hear are the key words in that commercial, which would be the brand name and the word cheaper. More than likely the announcer will say other key words like better, stronger, lasts longer. Upon hearing all of these positive things on TV, you want to go out and buy that product immediately, and it will be cheaper too! That is exactly what the marketing team of that commercial want you to think. It is a ploy to get that product off the shelf. What most do not do is analyze what the announcer said and realize that what he said was a fallacy!

      Another example of this type of fallacy could be the claim “Our product is healthier than those less healthy brands”. The point is, this fallacy happens a lot. A marketer knows that if something is packaged right and said the right way, it is more appealing to the ear of the consumer. Most do not realize that they are being manipulated by these commercials and redundant claims.

     This is just one of the many fallacies that advertisers use but, with a little background and understanding of what a fallacy is, you can determine if the claims that you hear everyday are actually logical. Learning what a fallacy is helps you want to question everything you hear and make better informed decisions.