On October 19, 7NEWS ran a shopping article with a commission disclosure on Big W’s $27 Lizzie McGuire pyjama set, tied to Hilary Duff’s Australian tour this month. Its headline says shoppers “run to snatch up” the set. The headline has a subject, “Shoppers”, and a loaded verb that turns a purchase into a sprint: “run to snatch up”. The page’s own last line hands the same verb to you as an instruction: “Run and snatch up” the set “whilst stocks last”. Between the two, the only person shown running is one unnamed commenter. The headline reports as news the act the page asks its reader to perform. The crowd is never counted. The second paragraph says Big W has seen “thousands of shoppers” and names no one who counted them. “Viral” rests on one video with no platform and no date. Big W’s statement speaks of “nostalgic joy” and gives no sales or stock figure. The habit the headline rides is the crowd as proof: told everyone is going, the mind takes the going as evidence the thing is worth having. The tell is a crowd with no number in it. Under the headline, 7NEWS says it “may receive a commission” on purchases. Big W’s own words first appear in paragraph 13, the $27 price in paragraph 14. On Big W’s own pyjamas page in August, licensed Gilmore Girls and Hello Kitty sets were $29, Alice In Wonderland and Winnie the Pooh sets $27. The “incredible value” is the shelf’s usual price. Woolworths Group, trading as BIG W, sells the set; 7NEWS can earn on the click.
