The Catch Culture.

Today's Marketing Cookie is about a culture of suspicion created by marketers.

Marketing has created a "catch culture." Don't worry too much if you aren't sure what a "catch culture" is because I just made it up. Every day we find "the catch" lurking darkly in the shadowy corner, crouching somewhere behind the most glorious of offers. After we sign on the dotted line, we discover that whatever the large print has given us, "the catch" eventually comes out to take it away. Here are some samples of "the catch":

"FREE with your purchase."

There's a catch.

"May cause dizziness, diarrhea, or death."

There's a big catch.

"But wait, there's more."

There's a reverse catch.

"*"

There's a tiny catch.

"Two-year contract."

There's a catch that keeps you.

The irony about "the catch" is, its intention is pure and its purpose is to serve and protect. Yes, "the catch" is the good guy. It always tells the truth, it erases the smudgy lines, and shrinks all the exaggerations. It is rather the marketers, who for over a century or more, have perfected the art of offsetting the truth with rubber checks, gold-plated keys, and an assorted bag of gimmicks. All of which forces the consumers to say, "Where's the catch?". Marketers have become masters of spin, wizards of words, and jockeys of photoshop who will stretch, recolor, crop, and distort the picture they present, and leave the task of unraveling the fish story to the illegible fine print.

With such constant and blatant abuse, how can consumers possibly form or foster any trust in the messages they hear and see every day? When an ad requires three paragraphs of exceptions, caveats, and limitations, the consumer must ask, "What then in the ad is true?" With all of this, how then can there be any trust in companies?

...or worse, how can we trust one another?

When a husband says to his wife, "I love you, shnookie lumps," marketers have conditioned the wife to ask, "Okay. What did you do?". Thanks to "the catch culture," not even love can be trusted.

When a kid comes home with five A's and a B- on their report card, marketers have conditioned the parents to focus on the B- and wonder where they could have gone wrong and failed as parents. Thanks to "the catch culture," we can no longer celebrate successes.

When someone buys a spontaneous gift for a friend, marketers have conditioned our culture to ask, "Okay. What do you want?". Thanks to "the catch culture," we've become unable to accept generosity without questioning the motive.

Can you imagine a day when the headline of an ad no longer makes claims that the fine print must unravel? Or a day when a nice gesture can be openly accepted without suspicion? While changing the bad habits of "the catch culture" may be a tall order, I believe there is hope. I admire the brands among us who consistently play above board and take great pride in their honesty. I believe "A cheerful letter or message is on its way to you," as today's fortune suggests, and when it arrives, I hope you will allow yourself to receive it.