WHAT TO THINK ABOUT BEFORE SUBMITTING WHAT “MISLEADS” YOU
Included here are a few good examples that are incontrovertibly misleading People have never taken a step back to examine the effects of misleading information to the society and the economy. People get different kind of information about products, services and even the news. Sometimes, they get to view an amazing advertisement of a product and service only to find it very different in reality. American recognize that fabricated information causes confusion about a current issue or event, yet they still continue to circulate it. Reports shows that 23% of the U.S adults share misleading information knowingly or unknowingly about a product, service or news.
Misleading information is a term that can mean different thing depending on the perspective. Misleading information can be very difficult to correct and may have lasting effect even after it is shunned. One reason for this persistence is the manner in which people make fundamental inferences based on available information about a given event or outcome. As a result, misleading information may continue to influence beliefs and attitudes even after being debunked.
Impact of Misleading Product Information
Different advertisement and packaging are made in order to increase consumer’s awareness of a product. This advertisement provides information so that customers can make educated choices. Often, all these strategies are focused more on raising sales than providing the accurate information of a product. There is a serious cost to misleading information on products.
Let take a look at the Corn-fed beef story, the beef customers were being told many things about the beef. The advertisement for the product shout that the product is safer, healthier, and even better for the environment. But in reality, there is no evidence that the Corn-fed beef had any benefit for safety, human health, or impact on the environment.
On the environment front, reports show that the growth chambers were used to evaluate the greenhouse gas emission from cattle with varying levels of forage and grain in diet. Two usual claims for grass-fed are that there is a greater content of conjugated linoleic acid, CLA, which was known to decrease tumor growth and also grass-fed beef has low cholesterol. This is just a convenient and deceptive information that got started. Cholesterol does not follow fat content and also foods higher in cholesterol often have little fat. There are different legal issues for misleading labels of cholesterol content that can get people in trouble.
The potent anti-carcinogen CLA story may be one of the biggest deceptions played on the consumer. In the report, 16 of the 20 mice given CLA got cancer. The whole CLA story was based on the mice making it irrelevant to human health. Consumer science studies show food safety is important to consumers, and it is an important feature of food buying decision. The advertisement for grass-fed beef claim that there are chance of E. coli infection in human from grass-fed beef which are extremely scary and dangerous. This information and description released about this product were really deceptive and misleading.
Also taking a look at the soy milk, people say the non-diary milk product are misleading to consumer. Definition of sow milk which was enforce by the food and drug administration is a beverage that comes from cows and require non-diary drinks. It was reported that the EU says they should rename their diary substitutes because they do not contain produce from an animal. In the court ruling, it was shown that the product was labelled as cheese or butter but did not involve milk from animal as it was being described. The German company still claim that the description did not mislead customers based on the fact that the plant used in the production were clear. People says that the plant-based products using the name milk are freeloading off milk advertisement paid by dairy farmers. Most people seek out soy milk because they know it contain no diary. But it was really disappointing for people to be misled about the product.
Misleading Information Scandals There have been different scandals as a result of misleading information. The scandal over the Volkswagen cheating pollution emissions tests in the U.S is casting a cloud over the whole car industry. The EPA has launched an action against VW over the diesel emission scandal that has engulfed the company on a global scale. The EPA alleged the company that they engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct, made false or misleading representation and also engaged in conduct liable to mislead the public in relation to diesel vehicle emission claim. The action covers around 10 brands including the VW biggest selling models. They allege that the VW company was engaged in installing and not disclosing the existence and operation of defeat software which controlled the operation of the vehicle exhaust gas recirculation system.
They found out that the Volkswagen had intentionally programmed turbocharged direct injection diesel engine to activate some emission to activate controls during laboratory emission control only during laboratory testing. It was shown that the software caused the vehicle to produce lower nitrogen oxide emissions when subject to test in a laboratory but switched to a different mode under normal road condition resulting in significantly higher emission being produced by the vehicles. The programming caused the vehicles output to meet US standard during the testing but emit up to 40 times in real world driving.
The emissions scandal erupted last year when the U.S Environmental Protection Agency discovered that majority of the Volkswagen cars sold in America were fitted with software controlling their diesel engines that could detect when they were being tested which lowers the emission during the test. It was reported thatVWbreaches the consumer law by concealing the software in their vehicle to cheat emission testing and thereby misleading consumers about the vehicle compliance with standard and emission level during the normal road condition. Volkswagen has been cheating in emission test by making its cars appear more less polluting than they are supposed to be. Volkswagen deployed the programming in about eleven million cars worldwide and about 500,000 in the U.S. This emission has caused pollution to the environment.
Once VW was unequivocally found guilty of the emissions scandal Here’s what US Regulators allowed VW and their customers to do in order to resolve this emissions mess.
Consumers will absolutely still be allowed to sell their VW cars back to Volkswagen at a premiumprice through a sweeping settlement worth more than $10 billion in total. But the deal had also prescribed free fixes (for the VW owners) and cash payouts as a second option if VW was able to deliver a government-approved repair. The result was YES there was an approved government repair. But most people chose to return the car rather than fix them.
This misleading issues goes further than this. VW was allowed to repair some new 2015 models TDI cars, and sell them as a new car (In 2017) with a substantialdiscount at selectedVW dealers. The cars should’ve been destroyed. Next, VW wasable to integrate into the settlement a fee structure that included VW to reduce the compensation to owners if the mileswere high. Horrific, because people had to drive their cars why the courts were resolving the emissions scandal.
Misleading settlement, yep Even though on average the settlement per car for VW per country wasapproximately$42,000 USD. Large fines you might ask????
Here’s what you probably don’t know;
How the entire issue started in the first place. VW Germany had a problem, they needed to have a retiring Golf chassis meet the new EURO 6 standard. A first escalation of emissions standards in Europe to eclipse most of the current US standards save for California. This put Europe on an even level with California’s highest emissions standards in the United States. A tough challenge for VW, but they new it was coming.
So, VW decides to cheat their way through emissions testing with the retiring Golf Chassis. VW execs were nervous as hell because a retiring chassis in 2 years would’ve been required to redo all the Crash-Testing and frame modifications for DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid) tank near the spare tire.
It probably to 1.5 beers in the execs offices before they decided to Cheat The System. VW used software and hardware modifications to have the old Golf Chassis pass the Emissions Test. Without having to install a DEF Tank. Pass it did and better than that some of the VW’s and Audi 2.0 Litre diesel started winning Green Car of The Year Awards around the world an in the US. So proud was VW and Audo that they delivered new cars to America with a….you guessed itGREEN CAR OF THE YEARS stickers right on the rear windows of new cars. Misleading the consumers all the way to their garage, where misled consumers would look back at their car, after parking it in the garage, and smile. Smile the owners did because they were the only ones with low emissions 2.0 diesels that did not have to deal with cost and hassle of the DEF tank fluid replacement every several thousand miles. And go out and tell other folks how wonderful their 2.0 Litre diesel was. Doubly Misleading! VW and Audi sold so many they were hard to find at dealers. Audi 2.0 TDI’s were so hard to get dealers were calling owners to sell them their used car at a premium.
Chevrolet had the only other 2.0 litre car on American roads, the Chevy Cruze Diesel of 2014 and 2015. Chevy got burned because their diesel car sold horribly……because the VW’s and Audi’s had no DEF tank and faster cars.
We’ll get back to Chevy in a minute
Here’s where the news gets worse. The big cost per car and the enormous fall from grace forVW was very justified for one giant reason.
Remember that retiring Golf Chassis that had only 2 years left on it before the new Golf Chassis arrived? Well, once the new Golf chassis came out VW and Audi kept installing the illegalsoftware and hardware. All they needed to do was keep it honest and install at DEF tank. They did neither, they were arrogant, abusive greedy car executives….that would probably throw dirty factory water into the Rhine River in Germany. They didn’t have to cheat the system, VW had the technology to meet the standard.
It’s simple Corporate Greed!
Remember Chevy with the honest Chevy Cruze Diesel? Well, wait a minutein 2016 it was determined that while the Cruze had a DEF tank the car was still cheating Yep GM could leave well enough alone. Greed came in and they wanted more
The Cruze Diesle beat the VW and Audi 2.0 dieselsin MPG. That was a tough thing to do even with a DEF tank, so they cheated too
Every Cruze Diesel get a real 48 MPG ( or better ) on the freeway in most situations Fantastic, right. But here is the reality;
The Cruse Diesel according to a federal court has decided that yes GM was misleading to their customers. Because the customer would’ve never purchased a diesel with illegal software and hardware on it. The Lawsuit continues with GM trying to explain their way out. According to insiders there is no way out for GM.
The Chevy Cruze Diesel cheats with much higher NOx (Nitrous Oxide) than what is allowed in these situations
Over 70 miles an hour on the freeway , over 80F degrees and in traffic conditions. Yep, that’s where and how most people drive.
Cheat the system and the consumer for corporate greed. That’s misleading. And the place where the Cruze diesel 2.0is made. try Italy and half owned by Fiat.
One last car note, well.. truck issue. The 2016 Dodge half ton 3.0 litre dieselwas the first light-duty truck to get a diesel in America. It sold crazy good. A big truck getting excellent MPG’s, why not!!!
That 3.0 litre Diesel is in the same situation as the Cruze Diesel and the class action is consolidatedin a Federal Court in Northern California. In this case the truck is emitting way more NOx than what is allowed ALL THE TIME, and it has a DEF Tank. This sweet little problem came to the desk of FCA (FIAT CHRYSLER AUTOMOBILES) chairman Sergio Marchionne, the sweater wearing Ferrari boss that greet state leaders in casual clothing said
“That’s a lie, those trucks met the US standard for NOx.”
Sergio “sweater” Marchionne is being forced intoearly retirement because, in part, by this issue 107, 0000 Trucks and Jeep Cherokee’s have this motor
Remember the calculation of VW approximately $42,000 per car/ truck. That ads up to….
An Early Retirement…. About 450 Million plus or minus.. Get a new chairman in there and blame Segio the sweather once he leaves That’s the GoodOl’ Boys way of doing it!!!!
Let also take a look at the Takata airbag scandal, the scale of the Takata airbag recall is bigger than anyone knows for sure. Reading the report, Takata made a clear statement to switch from expensive, stabile propellant in their airbag to cheap. They reportedly fake and fudge information to back up their decision. Takata was aware of what they were getting into right from the very start and their validation was as clear as it was tragic. The airbag deploys using small capsules propellant to fill the airbag. These propellant work quickly but not too fast in case they blow up out of control. This would send debris of metal at the occupant which is exactly what happened at Takata and has killed and injured many people around the world. The key to making a safe airbag is to use propellant that are stable but Takata greed and deception has mislead the public into failure and death. The propellant used include a compound called ammonium nitrate, a cheap but unstable explosive, which is enclosed in a steel casing called inflater. Reports shows that the inflaters has become unsafe and respond faster when exposed to high humidity and high temperature fluctuation. It took them years to be able to get ammonium nitrate stabilize. They later added a dying agent to stabilize the compound.
Although, Takata was aware of the airbag rupture, they did not alert the safety regulators or issue a recall. It was made known that Takata conducted secret tests on the inflaters they retrieved from the scrapyards, but later destroyed after the inflater cracked under testing. The agency blamed Takata for their effort to manipulate testing data and mislead the regulators for the snowball recall. Also, the documents unsealed as part of their lawsuit shows that Takata firm manipulated the information given out in order to conform with automakers safety requirements. Even the automakers knew for years that the Takata airbags were dangerous and rupture but they still continue to use it for their vehicles. This is extremely misleading. That was why they were charged of wire fraud for providing false information, an unusual outcome for businesses accused of wrong doing.
Misleading Information on U.S Economics
There appears to be an increasing alteration of economic data by the government to present an alternate reality of the current state of the economy last year. An electronic newsletter service was released that exposes and investigates flaws in current U.S. government economic data and reporting, as well as in certain private-sector numbers, and provides an assessment of underlying economic and financial conditions, net of financial-market and political hype.
It was shown that the government underreports inflation and unemployment, while overstating the GDP. Reports calculates real inflation to be closer to 9%, compared to the government’s calculation of 1.4%. Unfortunately, the government has an incentive to underreport official inflation, so as to cut annual cost-of-living adjustments to Social Security and other programs. One of the unintended consequences of falsifying inflation data is to negatively impact those saving for retirement and those who have already retired. Whenever retirement benefits, income and investment goals are being calculated, we use the CPI data to make adjustments to stay ahead of inflation. It was observed that if real inflation is much higher, then they were not going to meet their goals and it’s unlikely the government is going to be willing to help.
Another knock-on effect was to create a false GDP figure. If you understate inflation, you overstate inflation-adjusted GDP growth. This can create an alternative reality, because people may actually think we are in a period of declining inflation-adjusted GDP, even though the government is telling us that GDP is increasing. On a different level, a buoyant stock market used to be considered a sign of a healthy economy. But these days it is no longer so. US share prices are dangerously inflated for reasons that have nothing to do with any misleading of the real economy and market forces.
They are inflated because the US Federal Reserve continues to keep real interest rates at historically low levels. This most unusual in fact unprecedented zero interest-rate policy (ZIRP) created a preconception against any form of traditional savings. Let also take a look at the America 5% unemployment rate, all the labor market information is telling us that the economy is creating a lot of jobs. According to the US Bureau of Labor, all of these workers are considered “employed.” They are viewed as part of the American economy’s success story, a big part of which is the 5% unemployment rate. As president Barack Obama boasted in February: “The United States of America right now has the strongest, most durable economy in the world.” But in reality, Obama’s claims of a strong economy ring dead for the many thousands of workers. This is the main reasons the vaunted economic recovery still feels false to so many people. This is the labor participation rate, which plunged at the start of the Great Recession and discounts the millions of Americans who have been out of work for six months or more.
Obama’s claims about America’s economic recovery are in part a rejoinder to critiques from Republican presidential candidates who argue he has failed to address our joblessness problem. As Donald Trump declared in February: “Don’t believe those deceptive numbers when you hear 4.9 and 5% unemployment. The number’s probably 28, 29, as high as 35. In fact, I even heard recently 42%. To be clear, Trump’s 42% claim is a lie. But for the millions of Americans working low-wage or temporary jobs or suffering from long-term unemployment, it feels like the truth.
The unemployment rate was an illusion, a misleading number that, when recited in reassurance, smacks of a lack of understanding and empathy for Americans struggling to gain a foothold in an economy that has undergone a profound and detrimental transformation.
Misleading Information on U.S Politics
There have been evidence on the role of false information circulated on social media prior to the 2016 U.S presidential election. Drawing on audience data, archives of fast checking websites, we found out that the social media was an important source of information in the run-up to the election. Of the known false and misleading news information that appeared 3 months before the election, those favoring Trump were shared a total of 30 million times on social media and that of Clinton were shared eight million times. Misleading and fake articles were released accompany with the fake news stories so that they can change the outcome of the election and so was the persuasive effect of more than 36 television campaign advertisement.
From my perspective, what I witness on the television and social media is deeply disturbing. The public should be aware that the manner in which propaganda and information is deployed have effect on people. This last presidential election fake news and information can serve as an example to raise our collectiveness about the dangers of mass spread of misleading information and news through media.
Propaganda, false and misleading information was used to manipulate the public perceptions and belief. It was specifically designed to produce an emotional response among the people instead of a rational one, alters the truth which often panders human weakness by demonizing the political opponent. Given enough time and repetition, misleading information and propaganda effect can amplify feelings of insecurity, hatred, fear, racism or an inhumane sense of empowerment that can lead people into committing crime or suicide. The information that brought fear into someone can expose the person to a vulnerable, desperate and misguided way which can make the person harm others.
In my view, propaganda is a misleading or hate speech. Propaganda is when people spread lies and omit the truth in order to gain people trust or to destroy someone’s reputation. Let picture people staring at their television or watching video clips immersed in their echo chambers, soaking up biased toxic and fake information, alternative facts and conspiracy theories.
People are made to believe in anything. Misleading information spread through media harms by inducing false memory.
Misleading information is not a uniquely republican problem. Reports found that 38% of post shared about politics on Facebook include false and misleading information. A uniquely republican problem is the validation given to fake information by the president-elect. Trump has routinely repeated false information stories and whipped up conspiracy theories. Should we talk about the questioning of the former president heritage, or questioning Hilary Clinton’s health or during high profile rallies, urging his followers not to trust corrupt traditional media.
There is a different industry of website that fabricate information so that a group or party can get riled up. If you are a fan of Donald Trump and you hate Hilary Clinton, it is very easy for you to believe a piece of false information about some terrible things Hilary has done. These fake websites often generate the same information but change the name so as to get people on the other supporting side to be outraged.
The misleading information being spread does not always involve outlandish conspiracy theories. There is a long tail of insidious half-truth and misleading interpretations that fall squarely in the grey area, particularly dealing with complex issues like the economy. Not every information given out during the election is true. Trump won at this. He was able to gather all the doubt in the institutional power by providing an option for people looking for change.
There are majority of things misleading information had caused to human health, environment, economy, product, politics and many more. People need to learn from past mistake and try to make amends in order not to create misleading information.
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