Billy Mays is the devil

I despise slick marketing when it is borderline dishonest.

Have you seen the new TV ad for the new BMW clean diesel vehicles? Say yes. The ad brags about how you can drive 580 miles on a tank of diesel, while most gasoline vehicles have a range of only 400 miles or less. I find this intriguing. I live 560 miles away from where I grew up. That means I could drive home without filling my tank. That would sound enticing, until I reminded myself of the potential for blood clots and hemmorhoids...

The Germans also seem to be forgetting we Yanks are in an economic crisis. AHHHHHH! So, would they think we would ignore the fact that here in states, gasoline is $1.70 per gallon and diesel is about $2.50 per gallon? Apparently they do, the crazy dumpkofs!

As consumers, we don't get much credit. Maybe we deserve this. Go find someone who drives a BMW and ask them what a muffler costs.

This is an example of slick marketing. Which basically emphasizes the strong point of a product. I prefer this to dishonest marketing. Case in point, Billy Mays...

Billy Mays

Don't get my Dad or I started on Billy Mays. We both think he is Satan. He's the loud, kinda cute bearded guy who pitches Oxi Clean, Magic Putty and Mighty Mendit. Sometimes being loud is more credible. Imagine me reading this blog through a megaphone. Wouldn't it be more credible? He also uses camera trickery and fancy graphics to make his products appear functional.

Maybe you've seen this ad for Mighty Mendit? Watch the computer animation where is shows how this magic substance causes the microscopic fibers to match up and actually replicate it's DNA to bond to each other where they tore as if it was animal flesh healing. Oh, and check out the wind tunnel, where someone is obviously holding his back side, so he can lean in to make the wind appear strong.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_5UinfmC38

ShamWow

ShamWow is an innovative piece of synthetic fabric that absorbs liquids twenty times it's weight. Which, by the way, is pretty much what paper towels do. If you watch the TV ad, you'll notice the tricky film editing where a skinny headset-wearing dude with a New Jersey accent switches out the piece of carpet that he just spilled cola on. Magically, all the liquid is absorbed and it no longer has even a stain on it. He says "you're gonna pay $20 a month on paper towels anyway!" Really? I have a cat whos favorite hobby is tipping over half-filled glasses of water and fish bowls and I have not yet had to allocate $20 per month in paper towel funding. That's like $240 a year on paper towels. Let's all go to the grocery store right now and try to spend $20 on paper towels. We would totally mess up their inventory.

Finally, you can get sheets of the stuff that ShamWow is made from at the dollar store.

So, I think ShamWow is a sham. Wow!

Let that soak in...