I've been house siting for the past couple days and have been watching an annoyingly amount of television lately, and with that an annoying about of commercials. Since I've been trying to think about something to blog about I figured this is a good thing to discuss, that being said I've been getting annoyed at the amount of ridiculous infomercials about erroneous products that claim to do next to impossible things. According to Wikipedia, false advertising is defined as the use of false or misleading statements in advertising. People who are desperate to lose weight, save money, or looking younger. People get tricked everyday by buying something that will perform in a specific manner, and then when they get the product they are greatly disappointed by what it exactly doesn't do.
Infomercials are kings of the false advertising, especially the ones on late night. Whether people are promoting a product that cleans or a product that magically disappears your wrinkles, or even a daily ingested pill that miraculously sheds away the pounds. I do not understand, nor respect people who advertise products that disappoint their customers, its simply wrong and discrediting to all involved. I wish I could think of a way to get people to not buy in to these false advertising methods, but sadly, people become desperate for a quick, easy fix and let their guards downs which ultimately empty their wallets.
Erin I agree with you 100% I hate informercials that are so fake and just scam people for their money. Its like instead of wasting your time on comming up with a product that doesnt work, why dont experts try and sell things that do! I bought into one of these stupid informercials when i was younger, it was the "as see on tv" one with the revostyler that was a curling brush that spun and straightened your hair at the same time. Did you think it worked? Absolutly not. It tangled my hair! What a waste of money! So being a stupid person for buying into their tricks, I know and feel bad for people that do. Its wrong to try and sell stuff that doesnt work. Its a waste of money, time, and a let down.
ReplyDeleteI bought the revo-styler too! when I was younger because my mom and I saw it on tv. I too am tired of the hundreds of commercials for creams that will make you look "10 years", younger. Come on really? and those commercials for loosing weight on TV that clearly have "paid actor", at the bottom of the page.
ReplyDeleteThen there are those POP UP advertisements online that also are false advertisements, why?? make them, they are annoying and false!
I also agree with you Erin. I am not one that has bought into these infomercials but I know plenty of people that have. The people who think a silly work out ball can give you the abs of the woman or man in the commercial, are just ridiculous. What they don't tell you in all these infomercials, are the things that these men and woman are doing in addition to the one piece of equipment that they are advertising for. I personally get annoyed when I see one come on television so I immediately change the channel. I feel bad for the people who actually believe these and waste their money and time with them.
ReplyDeleteWell Erin since you are housing sitting a lot lately, it seems as though you are watching more tv. I hardly ever really watch tv, but when I do I often find myself either changing the channel or wondering to myself if this products actually work. But then I snapped out of it and say to myself "Kathleen come on do you really think those things bump it or will actually make my abs look like that." And then I do not buy into them. But it is sad how many people do buy into them and keep buying them. I am sure there is someone in this crazy world we live in, that has all the products that are "SEEN ON TV" and all we can say is Sorry and hope they learned!
ReplyDeleteKATHLEEN HAND
I think this informercials are even funnier to me ever since I became this major. So Erin, I agree with everything you are saying but what also boggles my mind if how much these companies rip people off. People shouldn't believe stuff like this but they are so desperate that they want that quick fix to their problem even if it is the stupidest thing. I find it sickening how these companies play off people's problems, concerns, etc. just to make a quick dollar. But the sad part is that the revenue doesn't last. Companies should want their product to actually benefit people and not just being about making a quick profit.
ReplyDeleteI feel like there has to be some kind of law that prohibits the blatant lies and low sales tactics that prey upon the insecure. Your article reminded me of an infomercial I see on every now and then that claims to "detox" the body. The "magic pill's" major selling point is the changes it causes to ones own stool (yes...poop). It even goes as far as to put a "some images may be disturbing" clause at the beginning of the ad and procedes to display images of peoples seaweed-looking logs. I couldn't believe it. The worst part is the spokesman: an over-tanned, highly groomed (waxed eyebrows and all) softly spoken (with a lisp) man that sits there and whines that he hates the "other products on the market that try and scam people because they make him and his product look bad."
ReplyDeleteA few semesters back, I was speaking with a female friend of mine who, like 99.7% of Americans, was looking for an easy way to lose weight. This friend, who I will refer to as "Sally", happened to be a few weeks away from graduating the nursing program here at southern. When she mentioned the product to me, I asked her about her experience at the hospital doing colonoscopies and such. She stood dumbfounded and replied with, "You're right, I've NEVER seen any shit look like that. That shit isn't 'lining your intestines'. What was I thinking?!"
It was simply a scam; a pill that turns poop green and seaweed-like so that one might assume he/she is "detoxing" his/her body. It's sad to think how many people have sent their money to this guy.
Infomercials are known to be fake. I think most people at this point in time just ignore the message because they know most of the time these products are a bog waste of money. I personally have never bought anything from a informercial and never will. Everything is usually a scam from these commercials so I dont bother wasting my time.
ReplyDeleteI think we need to use our own judgement when it comes to infomercials. We know that the main goal of an infomercial is to get the viewer to buy the product. Whether or not it works is irrelevant.
ReplyDeleteIt is clear to me that the ad for wrinkles is exagerated because of the drastic change it made. If it really worked the product would be well known and more popular.
I love infomercials. They seem so magical and perfect, even though they're not, I like to think they work. Those are pretty good advertisers, they get me. I bought Shamwow and a Snuggie. I want the slapchop, I love all of the cooking knives and blenders and rottissery things. I just love it. But obviously, these things don't work as well as they look like they do on TV. And the Shamwow- doesn't pick up every little drop of water. At all, AND it leaves water residue everywhere. My grandfather LOVED infomercial, as well as my grandmother-I feel like infomercials are geared towards an older crowd because they're easy to pursue and naive to things; because my grandfather bought EVERYTHING! I realized that infomercials are completely bogus, but they're still fun to watch. RIP Billy Mays.
ReplyDeleteI must admit that infomercials almost get me to pull out my credit card and call to order the product, but definitely not the diet pills or any of that crap that TV advertises. I agree with you also, I can't respect the companies that put out such false ads. There's no way someone can lose 15 pounds in a week because of some pill. If that's the case, it must be really harmful for us. But those companies know what they're doing and know how to get inside of our minds. They place the commercials at night, after we had a long day, and may be stressed for many reasons. For someone who lays at night thinking about the extra pounds they have lingering around, infomercials are perfect to trap them. There are some good ones though, as the Billy Mays ones that Court mentioned above.
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