--- title: Advert tricks and offers that are too good to be true — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Advert tricks and offers that are too good to be true», a lesson of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Adverts use clever tricks to make you want things. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/281-advert-tricks-and-too-good-offers/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/) / Advert tricks and offers that are too… # Advert tricks and offers that are too good to be true Lesson 281 of the everyday course of Mova's primary school: 25 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/everyday/281-advert-tricks-and-too-good-offers/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/281-advert-tricks-and-too-good-offers/0/) — Adverts use clever tricks to make you want things. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/281-advert-tricks-and-too-good-offers/1/) — Food is styled and photographed to look perfect; «Hurry, only today!» rushes you so you stop thinking; «new and improved» may mean only a new box; companies pay films to show their drinks (product placement); and tiny writing like «results may vary» hides the real limits. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/281-advert-tricks-and-too-good-offers/2/) — A good habit beats all these tricks: slow down, read the label, ask what really changed, and wait a few days before buying. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/281-advert-tricks-and-too-good-offers/3/) — If you still want it after a week, it may be a real wish, not just an advert's push. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/281-advert-tricks-and-too-good-offers/4/) — Some offers are not adverts but traps. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/281-advert-tricks-and-too-good-offers/5/) — You cannot win a contest you never entered, nobody gives away free game coins for your password, and «get rich quick» offers are almost always tricks. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/281-advert-tricks-and-too-good-offers/6/) — Example: a boy in Ontario gets a pop-up: «Congratulations! - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/281-advert-tricks-and-too-good-offers/7/) — You are our 1,000,000th visitor! - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/281-advert-tricks-and-too-good-offers/8/) — Click to claim your iPhone!». - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/281-advert-tricks-and-too-good-offers/9/) — The same pop-up is shown to everyone. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/281-advert-tricks-and-too-good-offers/10/) — He closes the page and tells his dad, and nothing is lost. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/281-advert-tricks-and-too-good-offers/11/) — The rule of thumb: if it sounds too good to be true, it almost always is. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/281-advert-tricks-and-too-good-offers/12/) — Close it and tell an adult. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/281-advert-tricks-and-too-good-offers/13/) — A loot box is like gambling: you pay without knowing what you will get, and games make it exciting so you spend more. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/281-advert-tricks-and-too-good-offers/14/) — Food in adverts is styled and photographed to look perfect; real food is usually smaller and messier. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/281-advert-tricks-and-too-good-offers/15/) — For claims like «9 out of 10 dentists recommend», ask how many were asked and who paid for the survey; asking only a few people proves very little. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/281-advert-tricks-and-too-good-offers/18/) — Product placement is when companies pay to show their products in films and shows; it is advertising hidden in entertainment. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/281-advert-tricks-and-too-good-offers/21/) — If you want something just because everyone has it, wait a few days; the feeling often fades. - [22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/281-advert-tricks-and-too-good-offers/22/) — You cannot win a contest you never entered; «you have won» messages are tricks to steal information or money. - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/281-advert-tricks-and-too-good-offers/23/) — Never use «generators» or give your password for free Robux, V-Bucks or coins; they steal accounts or install harmful software. - [24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/281-advert-tricks-and-too-good-offers/24/) — Only trade game items through official in-game trading; outside trades are often scams where you give and get nothing. - [26](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/281-advert-tricks-and-too-good-offers/26/) — Very cheap famous brands on a strange website may be fake shops that steal card details, so ask a parent to check. - [27](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/281-advert-tricks-and-too-good-offers/27/) — A boy in Canada spent all his birthday money on loot boxes in one evening hoping for a rare skin; he never got it and the money was gone. - [28](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/281-advert-tricks-and-too-good-offers/28/) — A girl in England's mum clicked a «free trial» for a beauty product; it kept taking money from her card every month until she noticed months later. - [29](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/281-advert-tricks-and-too-good-offers/29/) — Loot boxes work like gambling, and some children have spent hundreds without their parents knowing. - ← previous: [Illusions that fool the eye and adverts that fool the wallet](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/280-illusions-and-adverts/) - next →: [Chain messages, lures and scam messages](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/282-chain-messages-lures-and-scam-messages/) - ↑ back to [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/)