I think all “upscale” “beauty products” are frauds. Perfume in one ounce bottles can be just as cloying as any cheap stuff.
But that’s a man’s view. Still, being a man I feel entitled.
I also think “luxury” cars are not all that grand. I know the BMW’s and Jaguar saloons that I’ve ridden in felt cheaply constructed and thin and noisy and rough-riding by US car standards.
And my brother has a Rolex that I couldn’t tell from a Walmart clone at two feet away.
Real diamonds? Eh. Even zircons are a waste over rhinestones in my observation. I think other stones are far prettier, like opal, turquoise, and hematite.
Real fur feels very little different from fake, but I haven’t seen either since I moved out of the snow belt. And even then I only felt someone’s coat when they demanded I appreciate it.
Weight loss products and low-fat, low-calorie foods. Usually the best way to lose weight is to eat more fruits and vegetables and eat less crap. The very worst offenders, however, are diet pills. You know, the commercials that say, “Do you have a lot of body fat? Don’t worry! It’s not your fault!” Sometimes it’s not, but that’s a terrible message to send and eschews the user of personal responsibility for their own health.
Warranties on certain types of electronics. They’re usually a total waste of money.
Baby stuff - especially toys, DVDs and infant computer games (!) purported to “encourage brain development.” Why the hell must every toy you pick up for an infant comment on how it helps them get smarter? Living generally encourages development quite well.
Cleaning products. Soap and water usually kills most germs. So does avoiding cross-contamination of foods. I don’t need a zillion different types of wipes, paper towels and bottles and boxes of disinfectants. My family is much more likely to get some horrific, germ-related disease by shaking someone else’s hand than by touching my countertop after it’s been cleaned with some soap and water.
They sell the swirling dirt as a feature to watch through the transparent canister. They could do even better if they added a plasma globe to the unit. Look at my super cool plasma vacuum.
And my dad wore his Rolex for 40 years. He died before it did.
Quality is worth paying for. The question is which products actually have some real quality to them, and which are just hyped.
I agree with you on the diamond thing–especially as their price is kept artificially high. Rhinestones are no substitute, however.
When my son was an infant and I was thrust into the world of “developmental toys,” I jokingly asked my brother “what did people do in the olden days before all of these developmental toys were available?”
“They always had developmental toys,” he said. “They were called sticks.”
I agree with cellphones. They have one commerical where the man is pointing out to his friend his new cellphone with all these cool features. The friend says (in his mind but not out loud) to his friend, he never has any use for those and wouldn’t use them.
The point of the ad being, WANT not NEED. But I’m like, “Ok you just pointed out that your selling a product that is useless in reality.”
I detest those Brinks home security commericals. They are playing up on the most common fear that never happens.
As for cleaning products, well I’m still disgusted that I had some bad rust stains and I spent a bunch of money from CLR to all sorts of things, nothing worked. I bought a bottle of rust remover from Walmart for a buck and it took less than 5 minutes to remove all the rust.
So much for these “green” and “name” products. Yeah I know that was a fluke but still…
LOL
The most irritating commercial I see now is with Mike Rowe.
Mr Rowe starts out by saying something like
“People say to me, Mike why Ford? Why now?”
No one EVER said that to him and I mean EVER.
And finally the trend to put a light skinned black man in every other commerical now because of Mr Obama.
iPods. There are cheaper and better MP3 players out there that don’t break every five minutes. And I so hate their “You don’t buy an iTune, you just lease it” policy. If I buy a song, it’s mine forever.
That’s been going on for a while though. I really starting noticing it two years ago when Old Navy ran a whole series of Christmas commercials starring interracial couples.
Myself and the Mrs. were just laughing at the most recent one. Lady is at front door kissing her new boyfriend goodnight. He drives off in his car while jealous ex-boyfriend is hiding near by. Jealous enrgaged ex-boyfriend charges the door with weapon in hand and comes face-to-face with psycho ex in her front hallway. She simply presses the alarm button which chirps a couple times and the psycho enraged ex just turns tail and runs away.
Somebody seriously needs to do a parody Brinks commercial where the nice but blandly inoffensive suburban home is being marauded by a horde of zombies.
The pretty but blandly inoffensive wife can cower in fear while the handsome but blandly inoffensive husband presses the button for Brinks home security. The cute but blandly inoffensive Brinks operator can take the call and reassure them that Brinks is well prepared to deal with a suburban zombie apocalypse.
Then the handsome but blandly inoffensive husband can confidently reassure the pretty but blandly inoffensive little woman that he has things well under control as she clings to his chest in relief that she has a strong husband who can take care of weak little her by buying a package from Brinks Home Security to protect her from a zombie apocalypse.
Okay, so maybe that isn’t so funny, but everything’s better with zombies.
Me too. I haven’t noticed that many since I try to jump for the remote whenever there’s an ad and I’m lazy and watch most of my TV on the Internets, but it’s nice to see a few non-white faces in the crowd. I never thought it was just because of Obama. But if it is, that’s a nice thing, IMO.
Oh God. Most of the time, expensive makeup really is better than the cheap stuff. Sure, you can put on some Wet and Wild with a Q-tip, but chances are you’ll look a lot better if you use a proper makeup brush to put on some Smashbox. It lasts longer on your face, the colours are less garish, it lasts longer in the container, the texture will be better and easier to use, and the effect will be more subtle. As makeup should be.
Oddly enough, I’ve read that Wet 'n Wild lasts longer than any other make up on the market. I’ve never been able to try to find it to use for myself but I’ve read this in a number of places. They also use it in porn movies because it’s the only thing that stays on.
ETA: Also, the thirty dollar Dior mascara I bought looks exactly the same on me as the eight dollar one I got at Duane Reade. And a lot of the cheap Sephora brand stuff actually works pretty well. The only thing I think I’d spend more money on is foundation but I think a lot of the other stuff is often a ripoff.
I don’t know. I’ve had a lot of experience with makeup, and the stuff that costs a little more in the short run is a lot better in the long run. The mascara I use is $20, has my friends who borrow it running out to buy their own, one coat makes my eyelashes look fantastic and finished. The NYC stuff that’s $3.99 makes me look like I have spider’s legs attached to the edges of my eyes. My Stila lipstick is more expensive, but it’s smoother and lasts longer than the cheap crap.
