If an advertisement portrays a product or service as being available, then that product or service should actually exist. If it is said to bestow certain benefits, then those benefits show be available to all who purchase based on this assurance.

If there is no apparent connection between what the graphics, sound and text present to your senses and the products offered for sale, then the purpose of the advertising is probably meant to be deceptive.

Something is being hidden. The real purpose of the ad is a secret. The ad is simply a lie. What the ad promises is not true. If this type of deception were rare it might be ignored, but unfortunately it has become institutionalised in our culture.

Some observers even equate deceptive advertising with the evils of globalisation. For them, whenever the topic of globalisation is mentioned, advertising is relevant to the discussion.

If a politician warns against the influence of globalisation and the activities of multinational corporations, then their stand on ads which promote the products of those multinationals on the local TV is an accurate indicator of their sincerity. One cannot decry an evil foreign influence while at the same time ignoring (or condoning) foreign advertising and sales activities permitted with a blind eye within the local jurisdiction.

Advertisements are often intended to create brand loyalty. In the case of cigarette makers, their ads are designed to both create a positive association between the scenes and activities in the ad and their product, the cigarettes they manufacture. The advertisements are intended to entice new smokers to try their product.

The cigarettes contain the addictive drug nicotine, and the makers know that if you can be induced to smoke just one cigarette, the addiction can begin. Once you are hooked, the cigarette makers have you as a captive consumer for so long as you may live.

Their only real regret is that you didn't start sooner. They are aware that your life span is shortened by consuming their product. They are sincere. The fact that you will probably get sick and die as a result of smoking is a regret to them. They lose a customer/addict.

Hungry for knowledge

Getting a good education is important. But there are more people hungry for knowledge and a degree than there are opportunities in local universities. An overseas education is very expensive. The demand has been filled by opportunistic new private colleges, who advertise in the local newspapers. Usually there is a name on the ad which suggests a connection to a prestigious overseas academic institution.

But a closer look reveals that the connection is not to Harvard, Yale or Oxford. It is to Oxford-on-the-Danube, Harvard Brookes, or Yale Loch Ness. While in many cases there is some nebulous academic association, that is no assurance that the faculty and academic standards are commensurate to the foreign institution. It is sad to see an academic institution that lies. But it is nothing new. And unfortunately it is increasing.

The Malaysian government has not yet established an agency or association which routinely evaluates the various departments of private colleges for accreditation. Until such time as this occurs every student (and parents) must do a little research to determine whether there is a genuine university level education is being offered, or is it just another scheme to separate innocent and trusting scholars from their dreams (and savings).

In Malaysia the newspapers and TV stations are merely extensions of the party in power. The news is meant to portray the ministers and their policies in a favourable light. The news then is a form of advertising, and it is subject to the same dishonesty as in other forms of advertising. But in this instance it is called "propaganda".