Seth Godin's provocative framing: effective marketing isn't about literal falsehood, but about telling a story consumers already want to believe about themselves and the world.

The distinction he draws:

• A lie is a factual falsehood meant to deceive
• A marketing story is a frame that lets the customer see the product the way they already wanted to
• The best marketers understand which story their specific audience is primed to accept

This reframes marketing ethics away from strict factual accuracy toward a more nuanced question: is the story one the product can actually deliver on, or does it set up a betrayal of trust?