Truth in Advertising?

PerformanceEng wonders: "I work as an engineer for a large technology company in the U.S., and have been privy to what I find a interesting practice. It's well known that marketing data sheets often paint the best picture of a product while leaving the devil in the details. I've come to expect this, and when I am evaluating technology, I always have a skeptic's eye for claims made by the sales and marketing folks. However, I've also witnessed our product go into test labs (usually for the purposes of running a series of tests for a 'bake off' in a trade publication). Not uncommon is the attempt to 'tune' the configuration of the device under test to perform in the best light (not unlike tuning your car to pass emissions tests). I have seen it go as far as exploiting weaknesses in the test that, if the test operator discovered, would be considered bad faith. To the other engineers: Are you aware of this kind of practice at your company? To the IT professionals: How much faith do you put in these sorts of publications and their 'bake offs'? To everyone: When does spin doctoring cross the line and become false advertising?"

Comments

Re:Opine

[Lord_Dweomer]

And you sir are a fucking troll. I'm someone in the industry, and I am not a born liar, nor will I ever work on ads that lie or are unethical.

Grow the fuck up and realize that just as in any industry, there are good and bad practioners. Would you believe that Carmichael Lynch (an agency) turned down BIG money when they turned down a business request from a cigarette company. Other agencies out there have been known to toss a client the second the client wants something bordering on dishonest.

I certainly don't go making blanket statements about software companies simply because I don't like some things M$ has done, or the people who work for them. So how about you learn some respect and get some brains and realize that not everybody has loose ethics and will lie at the drop of a hat.