Do you ever feel urgently motivated to clean out your entire fridge? Spring cleaning season is approaching, and it’s never been a better time to chuck out what you don’t need. Why are you saving that bottle of kombucha that you purchased impulsively in 2018? Admit it. You don’t even know what kombucha is. (It’s okay. Neither do we.) Now keep going and throw away those iced-over capers in the back of your fridge too. You only needed them for one recipe.
Trust us. You’ll feel so much better when you’ve cleared out the mess. It feels great to declutter when you finally muster up the motivation. It’s almost like a fresh start.
But fresh starts aren’t always so easy to achieve. Chucking the junk that clutters your brain daily is much harder than cleaning out your fridge. Wouldn’t it be great if we could throw out our mental refuse as easily as we recycle a bottle of kombucha?
Unfortunately, we’re exposed to so much information (6,000-10,000 ads) daily that it’s impossible to weed out most of the garbage. It’s too much. Billboards, social media, “free” phone apps bombarded with pop-ups, and even public park benches intrude our minds at every turn.
It’s time to get to work and spring clean our brains the best we can. But of course, many companies today (i.e., local ISPs that litter their marketing campaigns with disclaimers) won’t allow it. They pile on to your mess and slack off in a corner instead of grabbing a garbage bag to help you clean up. They may even store their greasy lunch in your fridge without asking.
These businesses and their subpar marketing campaigns actively contribute to information overload, a term that interaction-design.org describes as an “excess of information available to a person aiming to complete a task or make a decision.”
We all have to complete tasks and make critical decisions every day. No one wants the distraction of a forgotten leaky lunch bag left in their fridge.
Since information overload brought on by constant advertising isn’t going away, the information in advertising should at least be honest and straightforward. Filling marketing materials with *asterisks and disclaimers is a clear sign of a marketing campaign that’s not only overloading you, but it’s also deceiving you at the same time. The Better Business Bureau describes the problematic nature of deceptive marketing practices well:
Misleading advertising can have serious economic consequences, especially when directed toward large audiences or when it takes place over a long period of time. It can affect both business competitors who are engaging in honest promotional efforts, and consumers.
At ACE Fiber, we believe that information overload and deceptive marketing are a terrible combination. We’re here to provide you top-notch service with no fine print – no deception. Quality service, simple billing, no contracts, excellent customer service, and no disclaimers fall among our top priorities. We care about our customers, so we’ll never overload you with information or trick you with a disclaimer.
Kevin Tynan agrees that “the ease with which someone can gather trustworthy information about a product and efficiently weigh their purchase decision” gives them more confidence as consumers, and ultimately — more peace of mind.
So while we can’t control the lavish amount of information that you’ll encounter today, we can tell you that we’re not adding any unnecessary clutter to your brain. Go ahead, clean out your fridge, and revel in some peace of mind that not all of the ads you see every day are deceptive. Honest, respectful companies still exist, and we didn’t even pack a lunch.
