False Advertising: No Jeans in the Store

A misleading ad is exactly how it sounds, no matter where you find it. If you were to be in the mall and entered a store that was advertising a sale on jeans, but walked in to find they had no jeans…well, what then? You’re already in the store and maybe a tee shirt has caught your eye. Now you are buying a product that you never even had the intention of buying when you walked into the place. It’s no different than the Google ads.

I believe colleges have the right to be upset over their names being falsely advertised. To lose a prospective student is the last thing any college would want to happen, especially when the “mistake” is through a false ad online.

Jay Walterreit says, “‘Students probably won’t enroll in the wrong college by mistake.’” Maybe a student wouldn’t apply to the wrong college, but who’s to say they might not find something else to distract them. The school they had originally chosen may be long forgotten just by whatever is found on the next link. That’s no different than staying in the store, even though you realize there are no jeans.

Most importantly, students are giving out information under the impression that the college they want is going to be receiving the message. Instead, they get calls from other schools, which in turn, is providing their information to a source that the kid never wanted. It’s like you’re back in that store holding a pair of jeans, you pay for them, but then the cashier hands you back a bag with a shirt inside of it. If it’s not what you wanted, then why should you have it?

But, how is this problem going to be fixed?

Obviously, taking down the ad would be the easiest, but imagine not two store windows, but millions of them, being viewed by thousands of people streaming through the web. And not one store is having this problem, but multiple stores. It’s not easy to catch, so clearly it’s a matter of time.

And who’s to blame?

The store manager who provided the information, the person who designed the ad, or the source that hung it up in the window. It’s an easy game of blaming everyone else, and putting the responsibility on their shoulders. But, all the while, the problem is not getting fixed. Students are still being tricked into going to these sites, winding up spending their attention for the wrong college. It’s a matter that simply needs to be fixed, all blame put aside, because honestly, if I'm looking for jeans, I don't want to waste my time or money on a tee shirt.