Conditions Apply

This phrase has become so ubiqitious in the advertising world today that we hardly come across a print or media ad which doesn't have this phrase in fine print. It is there only for a second or so, and sometimes hidden innocously in the screen. No sooner than you have started assimilating the 'offers' given by the ad, and started to list the benefits by this new offer, you see this phrase 'Conditions apply.' The front-end of the offer is just two simple words, but on finding out more, one finds a long list of terms and restrictions which are mandatory to be followed in order to reap those benefits.

A few examples of this is the popular Caller Tunes or Hello Tunes provided by the mobile companies. As you must have heard of this term, it presents your callers with a song instead of the normal ring-ring sound. Hello Tunes is advertised as free to select. But the 'Conditions Apply' fails to mention that calls made to that number will be charged 6 Rs/min, and that you need to provide a monthly rent to continue the service. And people are willing to pay the charge quite happily. Another example of this was in the recently famous talent hunts which are cropping up in each and every channel. The hosts of the show and the contestants themselves never get tired of reminding the viewers to vote for their favourite contestants by dialing this number or sending an SMS to that number. But while the viewer is busy watching the grin on the contestant's face, he or she fails to watch the tiny reminder which has appeared and gone in a second saying that SMSes will be charged at the rate of special numbers.

Advertisers will clear themselves of the blame by saying that they provided the fine print, and that it's upto the reader to make sure of that. And frankly they are only partly to blame. If the user, attracted by the offers, forgets to read the fine print, they are to be blamed too. What is the use then complaining about being cheated?

Marketing can sometimes tread the thin edge between what is ethical and what is not. And only the alert customer will be able to realize which is on which side. As the saying rightly goes, caveat emptor!