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The Art of The Lie: Disinformation in Advertising

by John J. Fanning

During decades of the Cold War, disinformation was used on both sides of the Iron Curtain to ferment public opinion and to confuse and demoralize the enemy. Although much of what was done by both Eastern and Western intelligence agencies still remains highly classified today, the few efforts that have come to light indicate that such efforts may have played a pivotal role in the ultimate outcome of that war.

For those unfamiliar with the term, “disinformation” means the deliberate fabrication of information for public consumption. An example of disinformation occurred during the mid-1970’s when Popular Science magazine published a story about Howard Hughes’s effort to explore the depth of the Pacific Ocean in search of energy rich minerals. Only later did we find out that Hughes’s expedition, which involved his ship, the Glomar Explorer, was actually a CIA operation attempting to recover a sunken Soviet submarine. The article in Popular Science was an example of “disinformation”. Planted by the CIA to provide a cover for their actual operation, it used the good name and reputation of the magazine to legitimize the story and throw curious reporters and soviet spies off the scent.

While in the above example, the CIA and Hughes used disinformation to provide a cover for covert activity; the use of disinformation has also been alleged in far more sinister activities. For example, the CIA has been accused of using disinformation to inflame public opinion and ferment bloody revolutions in South and Latin American countries. Most recently, the U.S. has accused Al-Jazeera, the Arab news outlet, of practicing disinformation, targeted towards inflaming anti-U.S. fervor in the Middle East.

With the advent of the Internet, the ability to create disinformation has never been made easier. What once remained in the hands of government covert operatives now is a keystroke away from anyone logging onto the Internet. Already we have seen criminal charges assessed against individuals who tout stock on the Internet by planting disinformation on bulletin boards or in discussion groups. And all too many hate groups try to win over adherents by posting disinformation on web pages, trying to rewrite history in accordance with their own distorted views.

It is important to note that while the Internet has its share of disinformation, it is flooded with misinformation. The difference between the two is in the deliberation of the act. With misinformation, the author of the writing is just plain wrong. While with disinformation, the author knows that he or she is wrong and is publishing the lie on purpose, in order to achieve a known and planned result.

So long as there has been disinformation there has been a debate as to whether or not it should be permitted. Certainly there is a huge ethical problem in sanctioning the publication of lies to the public. Is it right for any government to purposely lie to people? Does disinformation have any place in a democracy, where the flow in information to the people is vital to the preservation of that democracy? How do we restrain disinformation without also restraining free speech?

While these questions have lingered without response for some time, it may now be time to address them. The reason for this is because advertising agencies seem to be embracing the concept of disinformation in order to see products.

Most recently, American magazines have been delivered to subscribers with an innocent looking, 42-page insert attached inside, which purports to be an excerpt from an upcoming book entitled: “Men of Metal”. The excerpt reads like a work of investigative reporting. In fact, the supposed author, Rowland Samuel, identifies himself as a freelance journalist in England. The excerpt purports to be an expose uncovering a secret project to develop humanoid robots. In the excerpt, the “reporter’s” trail eventually leads him to a Dr. Colin Mayhew and a secret laboratory where Mini Cooper automobile parts are being used to create massive robots. The tip off that what I was reading was in-fact disinformation, was in the author’s persistence in pointing out that the Mini Cooper was “over-engineered”. Ostensibly, this over-engineering had been cleverly and secretly designed into the automobile solely to provide the good Doctor with the power and parts needed to further his “mad creation”.

Nowhere in either magazine I was reading (Esquire), nor in the excerpt itself was there a disclaimer warning the reader that what they were actually reading was an advertisement for the Mini Cooper. The excerpt itself looked very genuine and contained eight pages of alleged photographic evidence provided by the author. It also provided several other interesting clues such as a cryptic Internet web address (www.r50rd.co.uk/research/internal/v2i/engin/), where, if one explores, you can actually see the robot in operation. Purportedly published by Casson Publishing Company in the U.K., I found the “publisher’s” site on the Internet at www.cassonpublishing.co.uk. Their website lists a number of books for sale, but attempts to purchase them or download them leads to “file not found” warnings. You can, of course, download the excerpt from “Men of Metal”.

So in the end, my own little bit of investigation led me to deduce that this excerpt is classic disinformation. The excerpt and the information contained in it are all make believe, published in an attempt to foster a “mystic” about the Mini Cooper automobile. True, this excerpt appeared in the April issue of magazines and could be characterized as nothing more than an elaborate April Fools joke. But the fact that it was published in April issues can also leave room for the company to invoke the concept of “plausible denial”, in the event that scheme backfires.

All this has left me with a bad feeling for what may be a new trend in advertising; namely the introduction of disinformation as a marketing tool. I don’t know how successful this Mini Cooper ad campaign will be, but I for one hope that it fails. I don’t want a lot of American’s to buy into these published tales and actually buy a Mini Cooper because of the myth about its “over engineering”. If they do, I suppose we will see a lot more campaigns like this. And eventually, it will be very hard to know what is true and what is false.

Already a search of the Internet shows postings from people who believe the “Men of Metal” excerpt and are perpetuating the myth through their own web blogging. With the speed and vastness of the Internet, it will be easy for this tale to take on a whole life of its own. My attempts to contact someone at Mini Cooper and “Casson Publishing” were met with silence. Both firms seem content to remain silent in response to the Internet chatter.

I am upset that this ad campaign was carried out. I am also angry that magazines in the U.S. agreed to run it without posting a warning and/or disclaimer for readers. If publishers agree to allow lies into their advertising, is it any wonder when we find lies in the reporting contained in those magazines?

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