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How Money Works

The Hidden Tricks in Every Commercial

Ages 8–12 20 min read Intermediate

You learned that ads target emotions. Now let's go deeper: the specific techniques hidden in every commercial, social media ad, and even product packaging. Once you see them, you can't unsee them.

10 Tricks Used in Every Ad

1. The Bandwagon

"Australia's #1 choice!" If everyone is doing it, it must be good — right? This exploits our herd instinct.

2. Celebrity/Influencer Endorsement

Your brain transfers the positive feelings you have about a person onto the product. The celebrity usually has no expertise about what they're selling.

3. Before and After

Weight loss, skin care, cleaning products — the "before" is always terrible, the "after" is impossibly perfect. Many are digitally altered.

4. Anchoring

"Was $200, now $99!" The $200 price exists only to make $99 feel like a bargain. Was it ever actually $200?

5. The Decoy Effect

Three options: small ($3), medium ($6.50), large ($7). The medium exists only to make the large look like amazing value.

6. Urgency and Scarcity

"Only 2 left!" "Offer ends midnight!" Forces quick decisions. Online retailers like Booking.com show "5 people looking at this room right now" to create panic.

7. Repetition

You see the same ad 7+ times before you buy. Familiarity breeds trust — even with things you didn't originally want.

8. Colour Psychology

Red = urgency (sale signs). Blue = trust (banks). Green = health (organic products). Yellow = happiness (fast food). These colours are chosen deliberately.

9. Fine Print

"Results not typical." "Conditions apply." "Based on a survey of 12 people." The exciting claim is in large font. The truth is in tiny text.

10. Social Proof

"4.8 stars from 10,000 reviews!" But studies show up to 30% of online reviews are fake (ACCC, 2022).

Tonight's Question

"Next time we see an ad, let's count how many tricks from the list it uses. Bet it's at least three!"

Create Your Own Ad

  1. Pick a boring everyday object (a pencil, a glass of water, a sock).
  2. As a family, design an ad using at least 5 tricks from the list.
  3. Make it as persuasive as possible — give it a celebrity endorsement, urgency, emotional appeal.
  4. Present your ad to the family.
  5. Discuss: does knowing these tricks make you more resistant to them?

Go Further

  • Research: Look up "dark patterns" in web design — tricks websites use to make you click, subscribe, or buy accidentally.
  • Investigation: Check a product's "Was $X, now $Y" claim using price tracking tools like PriceHistory.
  • Book: Brandwashed by Martin Lindstrom (2011) — a marketing insider reveals industry secrets.
  • Australian: The ACCC actively investigates misleading advertising. Look up recent cases at accc.gov.au.

What We Simplified

  • Not all reviews are fake. Many are genuine. The 30% figure is an estimate and varies by platform.
  • Colour psychology has limits. Culture affects colour associations — red means luck in China, danger in Western countries.
  • Advertising isn't inherently evil. It connects people with products they genuinely need. The issue is when manipulation replaces information.

Sources

  • ACCC (2022). "Fake Online Reviews." ACCC
  • Lindstrom, M. (2011). Brandwashed: Tricks Companies Use to Manipulate Our Minds. Crown Business.
  • Cialdini, R. (2006). Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. Harper Business.
  • Elliot, A.J. & Maier, M.A. (2014). "Color Psychology." Annual Review of Psychology, 65, 95-120.

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