"Hype", when used to modify the word "advertising" is a synonym for "lying" or "untruth." It is unidirectional untruth, in that it always overstates, exaggerates, enhances and/or inflates the positive qualities of the goods or services being "hyped." It is also a form of lying which is intended by the liar to be relied upon by another to the benefit of the prevaricator. The legal definition of “fraud” is something like: “An intentional perversion of truth for the purpose of obtaining some valuable thing or promise from another.” The hyper is thus guilty of the sin (if not the crime) of fraud.
For this sin, I have imagined the following appropriate punishments: That the malefactor’s truck run out of gas while the gauge still shows a quarter tank, his spouse run off with his former best friend, his rifle jam when he has the biggest buck he’s ever seen in his sights, his microwave burn stuff on the outside while leaving the inside frozen, his television change channels ever time his neighbour uses his remote garage-door opener, and his diet pills cause him to retain water. And that's just for first offenders.
