there are certain loopholes advertisers can get through, such as no calorie foods containing five or less calories per something something, and reduced fats being something something (we learned about this in 9th grade health class so it's not exactly on the top of my brain atm xD)

other things are more beneficial for consumers; 'compare to X brand' meaning that the product (usually a pill or medicine) is at least as good as a brand name. It still doesn't help the 'holy crap it's not name brand so it can't possibly be good enough' placebo effect.

I usually ignore advertising that people throw at me and just look at facts they provide and hope that those are not made up as well.

Just yesterday, I was sitting in on a majors-pitch put on by the chemical engineering department, and I started listening to the words that one of their students was putting through her mouth and I wondered if people would really talk that way if they were trying to convince someone, or if we've gotten to the point where we just mimick advertiser-jargon when we feel we must convince a group of some idea.