What advertisers hide in the small print

Advertisers too often resort to sleight of hand to get us to part with our money. Here is my selection of their top conjuring tricks

It's the start of the sales, so I've put together my five favourite misleading messages from retailers and advertisers. (It was 10, but I've given you 50% off.)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/blog/2011/dec/30/on-reflection-top-five-marketing-tricks

• Not actual footage An intergalactic battle scene blasts over your TV screen. Planets collide, death stars explode. The game is epic. But the bottom of the screen says it's "not actual footage". In the actual game, do two kids play with a light sabre? Who knows? Yet every advert for computer games seems to carry this tag. Maybe an ad for a Ford Fiesta could feature a 4x4 with a top speed of 150mph, tagged "not actual car". Or a BBC wildlife documentary could say "not actual polar bear". 

• Up to Up to 100% of retailers abuse the phrase "up to". Every window in our recession-hit stores is plastered with sale signs promoting "50% off" or "70% off". Except that virtually nothing is slashed in price. But above that 50% off sign, in the tiniest text possible, are those evil words "up to".

Up to has crept up on us. It's brilliantly ambiguous, allowing retailers to drive a trolley through the rules on sale advertising.  According to the Advertising Standards Authority, no marketing communication should mislead by inaccuracy, ambiguity, exaggeration or omission. But when I rang the ASA it could not recall any action against a retailer for abuse of "up to" offers.

But, ahem, perhaps we're on rather thin ice here. The most serial abusers of "up to" are ... journalists.

 • 92 of 128 surveyed There seems to be a law taught in marketing school that every pricey skin lotion advertised on the telly must have the approval of 70% of women. Evidently, they now have to prove these claims, so at the base of the screen increasingly bizarre figures are flashed up. Not your "based on an Ipsos Mori survey of 2,000 adults" that we're used to from the pollsters. No, instead we're given really rubbish figures such as 86 out of 129 or 73 out of 112. My guess is that the market research firms churn through hundreds of people to get to the figure they need. So what if, of 2,000 people asked, 50% think the product's rubbish? Keep adjusting the results until you can find a cohort that will provide the "evidence" needed for the advert. 

• A new Peugeot 207 for just £179 a month A case from September exposes the mendacity of leasing adverts. In TV ads, Peugeot offered a three-year package with car, tax and insurance, "all included" for £179 a month. "Just add fuel," it proclaimed. Er, except you also had to put down an initial payment, not mentioned in the ad, of £1,500-£3,000. Thankfully the ASA concluded the ad was misleading. Rather like all those other leasing ads where the huge downpayment is conveniently not mentioned. 

• Ryanair Just before Christmas it quietly introduced its latest wheeze, in which the cost of putting bags on its flights will depend on the weather. And, no, I'm not making this up. When it's hot, the price of bags will rise. Take a flight in the "high season" of June to September and the 15kg bag fee rises from £30 to £50 return.

Yes, I know that's not misleading advertising, Ryanair is completely above board and honest about all its fees and charges. I just wanted to let you know.

So next time, make sure you understand everything. Although the it might not be Islamic, theres a catch somewhere.