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How to avoid cut price agenciesKnowing how to read an advertisement is very important. If we read an advertisement carefully, it can save us money; if not, we can end up spending more than we were prepared to at first. Some cleverly worded advertisements say one thing but actually mean something else. We often come across an advertisement that shouts "Free this!" or "Free that!" when in fact nothing in life is free. If the seller offers something for free, it only means the buyer ends up having to pay more for the item advertised.Sometimes an advertisement is so cleverly designed we see what the advertiser wants us to see and miss out the details which are in small print. At other times the price is not clearly stated but is falsely implied. For example, the price may read "from $25". Because "from" is in small print and "$25" is bold and big, we see only $25. But really, the price is anything from $25 and up. So if we are careless we think the item is going to cost us $25 but because "it is out of stock" we end up buying another item which costs twice or three times as much. Now let us see how we can benefit from analysing an advertisement that is not meant for us to read. It is like listening to a conversation to which we are not a party. This is the case if we listen to what the owner of an employment agency is saying to an employer : "We have obedient maids who will work for peanuts without off days." Are we rude to snoop? Is this not like eaves-dropping? Maybe, but, really, if someone is talking behind our back, we want to know what he is saying about us, don't we?
Take the advertisement above. We can benefit by analysing this imaginary advertisement by the imaginary Cut Price Agency. Let's take a close look at it.
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Some people think
eaves-dropping is like spying. However, reading the agency's message to the
employer is not really eaves-dropping, for the message is not whispered but
shouted out from the highest rooftop. When you open The Straits Times to the
classified ads where employment agencies advertise, you will understand what I
mean by "shouting" out their message. When someone shouts, you cannot avoid
hearing. (Sometimes when people talk on their mobile we hear everything, even if
we try not to.) When an Agency splashes its message in the classified ads, no
one cannot avoid seeing them. So if you study one such ad, you are not spying.