Which of the following best completes the passage below.

When purchasing a new automobile, consumers are generally wary of car salespeople, a group that bears a reputation for dishonesty. To combat this problem, the CEO of Hoffpeck motors is running an advertising campaign on television and radio in which he personally guarantees that he has certified each of his salespeople as 100% honest. This strategy may fail to achieve its desired results, however, because.......

a) Consumers pay less attention to television and radio advertising campaigns than they did before the widespread use of the internet

b) Consumers favor compact cars over SUV's and HOffpeck motors has failed to align its vehicle offerings with this changing market.

c) Consumers are likely to view the CEO of Hoffpeck motors as dishonest, himself, in light of his presence in a campaign to sell cars

d) Consumers view prominent business people as more trustworthy than salespeople

e) Consumers rank affordability and style ahead of showroom experience as the primary factors in their decisions to purchase new cars.

My Take-

Strategy is - Running a campaign on television and radio
Expected result- To overcome from the image of dishonest salespeople

Question type - Weaken

So, we need to find a premise(alternative explanation) for the question-

Why running a campaign on television and radio will not help in overcoming the image of dishonest people.

Explanation says- A is Out of Scope. Isn't A suggests that it may not be a viable strategy to promote the plan on Radio as people no longer pay attention towards radio advertisements because of internet. So, plan is likely to be failed. Also, Choice A does present new information.

Also, I found the language of C to be strong and Out of scope(phrase - in light of his presence in a campaign to sell cars)

Can someone explain Why A is wrong.
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This is the situation:

People are wary of car salespeople, a group that is considered dishonest.
So what does the CEO do? He starts running a campaign (on radio and TV) that he has certified his salespeople as honest.
The CEO expects people to believe his personal guarantee that his people are honest.

What is the flaw in the plan? Try to figure out the flaw on your own before checking out the options.
The flaw is that the CEO himself is acting as a salesperson by participating in the campaign. What says that he will not be perceived as dishonest too?


When you go to a bank for a loan and you have a bad credit, who can give your guarantee? A person who has a good credit or one who himself has a bad credit?

Focus on the core of the argument. Don't get misled. People don't pay as much attention to radio and tv as they did before internet has nothing to do with the argument. The comparison is quite pointless. Until and unless they say something like "no one pays any attention to the radio and tv ads," there is no merit in the argument.
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C

Argument states :
Consumer perceive Sales People dishonest
CEO declares Sales People honest

So if CEO himself perceived to be dishonest, whatever he says would also be considered dishonest, which in-turn means CEO statement would not help either.
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