Recently, I stumbled about a post about vegan food on a social-media channel.
Being an attentive reader and also an advocate of using good, understandable and correct (mainly German) language, I wondered why the extolled Soy product was obviously wrapped in a product packaging and advertised in a way to attract meat-eaters although apparently being a vegan product.
In the top left (first sight when reading) it's mentioned "LIKE MEAT". In the lower center of the product packaging (last sight when reading) it's labeled as "Like Grilled Chicken", where "Grilled Chicken" is written in super bold letters suggesting that the consumer is buying/eating a product of meat. BUT, although it's "purely vegetable" (completely inconspicuous and written in small letters in the upper right corner - which means out of view, in fact), "FROM SOY" is placed in a circle in a position which is rather skipped during reading.
In my humble opinion, this is fake advertising as the name suggests a truth that is not true. Please, get me right, I am not against vegan food at all. On the contrary, I would surely buy a clearly labeled vegan product rather than one that is fake-meat-labeled.
Thinking about this phenomena, I wondered whether there may be parallels to the dance scene regarding fake-advertisements.
So, take a short moment and think about advertisements you might have seen recently or even some time ago. Think of the dancers which ran those ads, and now ask yourself if the ads promised things that ended up not being in the "product package".
Have you find such a fake, promising ad in your mind? I think so!
Well, then how can
each of us become more aware of these kind of (fake) advertisements?
each of us reveal those advertisements as fake?
teachers educate learners to a) identify such kind of advertisements and b) not become a publisher of fake advertisements themselves?
The answer is pretty simple: Teachers need to educate their learners to be authentic and real!
Coming back to revealing such kind of advertisements, as a first step, some negative examples need to be presented. So, what you see next is - in my humble opinion - an advertisement that promises content which will most probably not be provided when you buy the product.
XX is multiple German champion, multiple vice-champion (solo and duo) and world champion (Bellydancer of the world) with a total of ?x 1st place, ??x 2nd place, ?x 3rd place in various oriental dance competitions.
This announcement from an event agency advertising the dancer may tell you the truth about her services. However, there is a need to take a look closer to the statements that are made. Let's analyse the provided facts:
There is no information given about who provided the title "German Champion" or "World Champion".
There is no information given about which were the criteria to win the competition.
There is no information given about how many other contestants participated in the competition. Keep in mind that it is far easier to win a category if you are the only person to participate in it instead of having a bunch of dancers in it.
There is no information given whether this particular dance scene has ever been academized like ballet, for instance, or not, which would lift the value of achievements during competitions.
Let's try to bring the information of the announcement into relativity:
The "German Championship" is a competition that follows criteria of the ADTV - Allgemeine Deutsche Tanzlehrerverband e.V., the largest association of its kind in the world, with over 3,000 members throughout Germany.
"largest association of its kind in the world" means nothing else but there is no other association in the world that exceed this association in the amount of members. It says nothing about the values, aspirations, conditions for success, etc. of the association.
As this association is, in general, open for all kind of dance teachers, who is accountable for the criteria of competitions in Oriental Dance - and what kind of expertise do these persons have?
SO: how can one tell the value of the title "German Champion" given by the association?
There are a hundreds of "World Championships" in Oriental Dance spread all over the world.
SO, again: Who is accountable for the criteria of world champion competitions in Oriental Dance - and what kind of expertise do these persons have?
All the mentioned missing information would provide valuable facts for being able to gauge what the acquired titles are actually worth. This is a veritable example for how readers can be blinded by information.
To be honest, it is completely understandable and also of a legitimate nature to advertise one's accomplishments.
Conclusion:
Teachers are in responsibility to educate their learners how to read and gauge such kind of advertisements and how to provide such kind of information in their publications.
Happy to read your thoughts and comments on this article.
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