Dan Severson gave us a quick homework assignment. We were told to provide pictures of misleading advertising of food products. These are a few examples I have found:

The Beyond Meat “Burgers” are a great example of misleading advertising. These patties are not burger patties, they are simply plant-based patties. To consider this a burger is incorrect, provided with the information that a burger is made with beef, not plant products.

Another important example that children and adults alike love is Welch’s fruit snacks. You can see that the entire box is covered with the phrases “real fruit” or “fruit is out 1st ingredient!” Fruit puree is the first ingredient, and there is fruit in these gummies. However, these are not healthy, they are actually quite comparable to candy. Over 40% of the contents in each bag are made with sugar and corn syrup. Which in large amounts is not healthy at all. The information is in a tiny format on the nutrition facts while the phrases about fruit are in larger format to reel in customers. Welch’s has deceptive advertising.

Lastly, there is the PowerBar. This brand is claiming it is packed with protein for “performance energy” but in reality, this product contains high amounts of sugar and fructose, which eaten continuously can produce visceral fat in the human body. This is definitely not something you’d want to be eating if that information was in bold on the front of the bar.

These examples provide proof that many companies will do almost anything, even if that means false or misleading advertising, to interest customers and basically fool them into wanting to purchase their product. This is a way that these brands make money, by hoodwinking the general population.