John Gruber apparently supports Jason Fried having sand in his crack over less than honest iPhone advertising. This in reference to the “unslow” iPhone 3G ad. It seems the ad shows an iPhone winning at the Brickyard or possibly the Preakness (I didn’t catch all the details). I guess the iPhone isn’t quite as fast in real life as the shows it on TV. This has resulted in self-righteous keyboard pounding over on 37signals.

You can make the case that advertisements should be pure and true and wholesome. They should. Every day should be a sunny day and everybody should get a second slice of pizza and nobody should ever drink the last beer. Everybody everywhere should hold hands and sing a happy song of love and kindness. The children should always smile and laugh and never torture small animals. Milk should never go sour.

Politicians who wag their fingers in public shouldn’t wag their peckers – and vice versa.

Reality is different from that.

Advertising is all about creative truth. If it’s all true it isn’t advertising.

Advertising should be more forthright, honest, candid, and snuggly. But, starting with the iPhone ads as a place to initiate reform seems a little silly. Let’s start with some dishonestly advertised products that matter.

Four Wheel Drive Vehicles

Every time I see a Jeep on television driving vertically up the side of a snow-covered ice cube I want to go kick an ad executive in the transaxle. People see that and believe it. Ordinarily reasonable people think 4WD is a cloak of invincibility. I see them every winter standing next to inverted Jeeps and SUVs cluttering the ditches of our mountain passes.

Beer

It doesn’t matter what brand of beer you drink whether you get laid. It doesn’t matter what brand she drinks, either. It only matters how much beer she drinks. Buy the brand she likes.

Fast Food

The people who go to McDonald’s on TV are thin, muscular, urbane, hip, and smart. The people who hang out at McDonald’s in real life are not. The delta is noticeable.

Luxury Cars

Luxury cars suck to look at. They’re overstuffed leather couches with the ability to burn fossil fuels quickly. They are NOT sporty. Ever. 

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Gotta go. My wife wants to play Scrabble®.