Infomercial stupidity

LondonBroil · #1 07-13-2007, 01:02 AM

Was watching some infomercial about some product they have that will help you make trades (forget the name exactly). They mentioned being able to make 10% a month consistently, then 30 seconds later had a women mention that she's gonna buy her next house with cash.

Doesn't this sound counterintuitive? Does anyone else love watching these just to see how lame they are?

Evan · #2 07-13-2007, 02:02 AM

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Was watching some infomercial about some product they have that will help you make trades (forget the name exactly). They mentioned being able to make 10% a month consistently, then 30 seconds later had a women mention that she's gonna buy her next house with cash.

Doesn't this sound counterintuitive? Does anyone else love watching these just to see how lame they are?

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It makes a lot of sense if you understand who they're selling to.

maxtower · #3 07-13-2007, 04:41 PM

I don't know how this is even legal.

Tupacia · #4 07-13-2007, 05:34 PM

Slight hijack, but I couldn't believe how much revenue some of these infomercial infoproducts generate. I read in The 4-Hour Workweek that one top infomercial infoproduct (didn't name it) generated $65 million in revenue last year with only 20 or so employees. Pretty sick business model.

Newt_Buggs · #5 07-14-2007, 03:33 AM

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Slight hijack, but I couldn't believe how much revenue some of these infomercial infoproducts generate. I read in The 4-Hour Workweek that one top infomercial infoproduct (didn't name it) generated $65 million in revenue last year with only 20 or so employees. Pretty sick business model.

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You would have be a pretty sick person to not have severe moral qualms about running such a business though.

gordongecko · #6 07-14-2007, 07:39 AM

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You would have be a pretty sick person to not have severe moral qualms about running such a business though.

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The same can be said about most professions though. I don't think blackjack dealers or slot machine mechanics lose any sleep at nite when casino marketting is much more [censored] than most of this [censored]. Same goes for lawyers that defend obviously guilty molesters and rapists. That being said they really need to regulate that [censored] better. [censored] scum.

Tupacia · #7 07-14-2007, 10:54 AM

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[ QUOTE ]
Slight hijack, but I couldn't believe how much revenue some of these infomercial infoproducts generate. I read in The 4-Hour Workweek that one top infomercial infoproduct (didn't name it) generated $65 million in revenue last year with only 20 or so employees. Pretty sick business model.

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You would have be a pretty sick person to not have severe moral qualms about running such a business though.

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Granted I would never sell trading products that promise 10% a month, but I wouldn't have a problem if I sold a real estate course or Tony Robbins-type product.

KUJustin · #8 07-14-2007, 11:11 AM

There are basically 2 ways to sell a product: design/choose a product to be "sold" to the consumer to meet your own needs, or design/choose a product to best meet the consumers' needs and then sell it by demonstrating that.

Basically I think the first one is always immoral. Obviously there are gray areas between the two and therefore I think there are plenty of moral gray areas that arise.

kimchi · #9 07-14-2007, 11:15 AM

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[ QUOTE ]

You would have be a pretty sick person to not have severe moral qualms about running such a business though.

[/ QUOTE ]
The same can be said about most professions though. I don't think blackjack dealers or slot machine mechanics lose any sleep at nite when casino marketting is much more [censored] than most of this [censored]. Same goes for lawyers that defend obviously guilty molesters and rapists. That being said they really need to regulate that [censored] better. [censored] scum.

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Gordon Gecko for President!

Anyway. If people are stupid enough to believe this [censored] [censored] 10% per month [censored] [censored], then they deserve to [censored] lose their [censored] cash.

Hail Mary.

Tupacia · #10 07-14-2007, 12:02 PM

[ QUOTE ]
There are basically 2 ways to sell a product: design/choose a product to be "sold" to the consumer to meet your own needs, or design/choose a product to best meet the consumers' needs and then sell it by demonstrating that.

Basically I think the first one is always immoral. Obviously there are gray areas between the two and therefore I think there are plenty of moral gray areas that arise.

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Nobody is forcing a gun and forcing consumers to buy any product. Just because it doesn't meet your entirely subjective definition of what is "needed" doesn't mean that it's immoral.