I’m thinking of spam, pop-up ads, idiotic commercials, political ads, and everything which insults the intelligence of it’s viewers. Do these things really work? Are there enough stupid people that believe spam that it is a viable advertising tool? Do people really pay attention to the mud-slinging that goes on between candidates about election time?
short answer: yes.
For spam, telemarketing, and other harrassment, it’s simple economics. The cost per solicitation is so low that a miniscule hit-rate is enough to sustain the business. Which by implication means that there are at least enough stupid people to keep them in business.
For politics and commercials, it unfortunately comes down to name-recognition. If they can get you to remember the product, you’re halfway to voting for / buying it. At least, that’s the theory they’re using. I’d prefer to be swayed by actual arguments, but even more so, I’d prefer they shut the heck up.
I’ll go out on a limb here and say that you haven’t really proven that stupidity is commonplace.
Spam is not stupid. It works. If you don’t believe me, ask yourself why it’s still used. Pop-up ads aren’t stupid at all - they’re extremely effective. Commercials may be simplistic, but few are genuinely stupid. Political ads, same thing.
“Everyone is stupid!” is a common refrain, but actually, stupidity is not all that commonplace, and when it does manifest itself, it’s not in the form of popup ads.
It is indeed disturbing that 90% of political campaigns are aimed at stupid people, but then again no ever went broke–or failed to get elected–by underestimating the intelligence of the American people.
Rickjay, that’s what I’m asking. From where I sit, only an idiot would support a product with such a blatantly dishonest ad campaign as the spam/popup people run.
The level of intelligence displayed by a group is inversely proportional to the square of the number of members.
Actually… telemarketing is quite the reverse. Fairly expensive per solicitation, but achieveing predictable and relatively high closure rates. It’s effective, it’s smart and for the right type of product it can damned well be mutually beneficial… but yes it’s annoying.
How many ads are blatantly dishonest? Not too many. False advertising laws prevent much outright lying.
I mean, most popup ads I see are pretty honest. “Look, we’re selling Webcams.” What’s dishonest about that?
As for spam, remember, the entire point of the really dishonest spam (like the Nigerian Bank Account scam) is that most people are too smart to fall for it.** That’s why they use spam.** If only 1 in 10,000 people are dumb enough to fall for it, you need to hit 2 million people to get a reasonable number of suckers. If everyone was stupid you wouldn’t need to spam so many people.
There’s nothing inherently dishonest about popups. Sure, they’re annoying, but so are most car dealership commercials. Doesn’t make them dishonest either.
People are stupid? Compared to what? You? While you may indeed be much smarter than the population in general, don’t think that makes you immune from these advertising techniques. My experience is that everyone thinks that they are above being manipulated by these low-brow sales gimmicks, but they’re not. I know I’m not, and I’ll bet dollars to doughnuts that you’re not either.
You ask if these things really work, and the answer is hell yes. Otherwise they would long ago have moved on to something else.
With respect to the effectiveness of negative political ads, there’s a story I like to tell. After the Dukakis disaster, a film crew went around asking people what they thought of the negative ads. Remember that this was the campaign that featured the infamous Willie Horton ad. Everyone interviewed expressed contempt and disgust for such tactics and couldn’t imagine why anyone would use them. They were then asked who they voted for and why. Typically their response went something like “Oh, I voted for George Bush. Why? Well, because Michael Dukakis let that murderer out on furlough…”
Hey, everybody is stupid. it’s just that a few of us are smart as well.
I don’t believe that stupidity is the opposite of, or inverse to Intelligence.
Well, I won’t buy anything over the phone, or contact anyone who reached me over the phone to sell me something. I always ask to be removed from the contact list, and actually never buy anything based on its mass advertisement. But it has nothing to do with intelligence.
I long ago realized that I am not profiled by the folks who do the selling. And that is not stupid, either, since I buy so very little, and my choices are so very resistant to advertising. So, I understand that spam is not intended for me. Not because I am so smart, but because I spend so little on brand name consumer goods. They reach me by mistake. They correct that mistake, when they find out, and fewer and fewer of them call me, now that I have made it clear that I don’t respond to telemarketing. Email spam is different. I just delete it. I don’t even worry about how the barnyard fun XXX folks got my name. I only open mail from people I know, and on my Triskadecamus account, I block any domain that I don’t know as well.
It obviously does work, because it keeps on happening. The Barnum Effect is a valid phenomenon. Remember, every dollar that is spent on perpetual motion machines is not out there competing with your dollar for goods and services of actual value. I am not sorry for folks who send in money for the secret of instant wealth, or the Rosicrucian’s lost ceremony of immortality. They get what they want. They get nothing, and that must be what they wanted, because it is what they sought out in the first place.
By the way, if you foreword this post to Bill Gates, and three thousand other people, you are an idiot, and most of them will tell you so. Bill Gates will ignore you.
Oh, yeah, and that kid who wanted all the get-well cards? The little bastard lived! Bill Gates will pay you a million dollars for his current email address.
Tris
No offense, but that doesn’t strike me as a very incisive analysis.
Well, sporkin’ as un idiot I’dsa done say thut spams is er better tastin’ than those there little vienner sausumges, but not quite near so good eatin’ as pork rinds and cheetos drizzled with bacon fat and beers.
I don’t hardly buy me nuthin that the state aid don’t done be payin’ for. Polly Cumpayns? I don’ rightly know who she is or why you smart peepuls be given that old girl so much o’ your pillow stash, but done she suck the meat from a T-Bone out the tailgait of a chevy, then she be the gorl for me!
I don’t get on my baby’s momma’s compooter right oftuns, but whens I do I always come to see what you smart old boys be havin to be say down over at strate dope. you old boys and gals sure give ol’ bubba plenty of chow for the brain to chew.
Aw damn, just reckoned on that I ain’t got no more gawldarn 30.06 rounds in the trailer. swore I had me some in the chevy but junior stole her darn near two week before. can’t sit on no empty rifle. Gonna get me down to K-Mart to stocks on up. there’s crazy folk runnin’ loose and I aimin on y’all.
wish they had bullets commershulized in those poop-up adds you gents discussin’ on. . . I’d buy me a whole chevy full and hit the highways.
this thinkhum shore has my heads tired. don’ hordly knows how you folk be runnin them thoughts all damn day without startin no gawdamned shack fires.