These days retail stores are full of products that lie about what they say in their packaging, claiming a million things which aren't true. And they legally get away with it because of tricks in the wording they use. So the customer ends up not knowing who is legit and what he is really buying.
So that's why it would be extremely useful if there was a serious association that companies would pay to apply for the "Integrity Seal of Approval". The association would study and review your product and from the results would decide to either give you the seal or deny it recommending changes in order to get it.
And the seal would need to be renewed each time you changed your package/product. So constant marketing would be needed to remind and make the consumer aware of the seal.
The BBB (Better Business Bureau) would be the ones doing this, but there is no seal or anuthing like it now. The most I have heard is the good house keeping seal; but there isn't anything for the software industry and similar products.
So customers would look for this respected seal which once and for all would differentiate the companies that stick to the principles of integrity from the liars.-- Aluxe, Nov 03 2003 Which http://www.which.net/ [sufc, Oct 17 2004] Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval http://magazines.iv...4512_596441,00.htmlLike this? [waugsqueke, Oct 17 2004] <an integrity story> I have a friend who was at one time involved in the vacation time share business (a creator of promotional videos for the industry) and he told me the following story:
He was going to visit a client time share resort in the Lake Tahoe area and as he approached the resort in his rental car he saw a succession of cars pulling out of the the resort driveway, some with their tires squealing. From several of the car windows he saw flung what he thought were pizza boxes and he found this very odd, indeed. As the cars passed him going rapidly the other way, he could see that the drivers were angry about something.
When he arrived at the sales office, he related what he had seen to the receptionist and she commented, "Oh, yeah, those are the premiums we've been giving away."
After delving a little further and looking at the "TV" premium gifts, he now understood why people were angry. The folks were lured up to the resort with the promise of 25" TVs in exchange for their enduring a 90 minute time share sales pitch. What they, in fact, received at the end of the sales show was a poorly made 25" vinyl fresnel lens that they were instructed to put in front of their existing TV sets.-- bristolz, Nov 03 2003 Yes, those time share guys are the worse. I once "won" a vacation package for 4 persons and 4 days. I actually went to their office to get my "ticket" which turned out to be some kind of coupon to get discounts on their time share deals. Mutherfuckers !!!-- SmartyPants, Nov 04 2003 The Uk has a group called Which that covers this sort of ground. See link-- sufc, Nov 04 2003 "These days retail stores are full of products that lie about what they say in their packaging, claiming a million things which aren't true. And they legally get away with it because of tricks in the wording they use." I think you've answered this one yourself. Read the wording very carefully and don't believe the hype. The best consumer is an informed consumer.-- phoenix, Nov 04 2003 Yes, as much as I'd like to see something like this come to fruition, I have to agree with [Phoenix].
Say that products actually began to be marked with the "Integrity Seal of Approval". What we would soon see are a bunch of knock-off seals on non-approved products.
"Integral Seal of Approval" "Integrity Seal Approved" "Integrity Sealed and Approved"
You get the idea. Just look at how many different "Kosher" labels there are out there.-- Overpanic, Nov 04 2003 Although, if you consider all these things when making the seal you might be able to do it. This by making sure the seal is easy to recoginize and has distinct features impossible to copy without infringing the trademark. And also with the right kind of marketing.-- Aluxe, Nov 04 2003 Nope, I still don't believe it. The market would be flooded with so many knockoffs that the average consumer wouldn't be bothered to learn the difference.
Even with television commercials, broadcast during the superbowl, and every five minutes afterwards for the next 2 months, the average consumer would still look at two different brands of detergent, one with the "integral seal of approval", and the other with the "integrity seal of approval", and buy the one that's on sale.-- Overpanic, Nov 04 2003 random, halfbakery