What’s it really worth to tell the truth?
By Betty Lukas
PV News
Dec 2, 2015
Does accuracy matter anymore? Is there any real value in being true to your label?
These and other troubling questions surfaced not long ago when California legislators passed SB-633, which allows manufacturers to fib on the contents of their products. The law allows California companies to say “made in America” as long as their products are mostly made in America — 90 percent made in America, to be exact.
By way of justifying this slippery law, State Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo), who co-wrote the legislation, explained that requiring products to be actually 100 percent American-made “places an overly burdensome regulation” on California businesses.
Not that California is alone in this sleight of accuracy. All other states follow a Federal Trade Commission standard that says the Made in America label is valid if “all of virtually all of its parts” are produced in this country. “Virtually” is related to “nearly” and “almost” and “not quite.”
These are very slippery words. In the jargon of advertising, they’re called “weasel words.”
California maintained much stricter standards in the past — Made in America literally meant that the entire product was Made in America. No wishy washy figure like 90 percent.
Richard Holober, executive director of the Consumer Federation of America, said that manufacturers never had trouble in the past meeting the state’s Made-in-America rule. Loosening the state’s 100 percent standard puts those businesses that abide by the 100-percent rule at an obvious disadvantage. Holober said that “consumers should get honest information from labels.”
But Hill claims, “We now have a realistic level of flexibility in our labeling...” Flexibility. Remember the word.
And then there’s the story of Ivory Soap — the full discloser:
Turn back in time to the mid-1800s when a candle maker named William Procter and a soap maker named James Gamble joined forces in 1837 to create Procter & Gamble. To compete with those Spanish manufacturers who were importing a perfumed soap that cut into to the P&G business, the innovative pair improved their soap and — like all good businessmen — spread the news to their customers. Their first improvement was a soap that floated. That improvement was heralded as “It Floats!” in 1891. And in 1895, a soap found to be nearly perfectly pure was heralded after the company had ordered a content analysis. Both improvements enhanced sales and even today remain recognizable elements of the product. You know it’s Ivory, don’t you?
Maybe there’s a redemption lesson here for Made in America manufacturers that cheat on their labels. What if they provide a content analysis of their products? What if they admit that their product is 90 percent Made in American? Wouldn’t a prospective buyer admire their candor, their honesty?
And wouldn’t that manufacturer sleep better? That’s still a noble goal, isn’t it? Honesty, that is.
Lastly, in these preternatural days of political correctness, it is becoming harder than ever to exchange friendly holiday greetings with other human beings.
However, Silver Threads will try to cover all the smiling seasonal salutes, beginning with Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Winter Break, Happy Kwanza, Happy Ski Season or Name Your own.
See You Next Year!
Betty Lukas is an award-winning former staff writer for the Palos Verdes Peninsula News and Los Angeles Times, and a regular contributor to the News.