Truth in Advertising

[MikeG]

Watching GC this morning, X-Hot iron commercial comes on. Towards the end, I saw a little disclaimer on the bottom of the screen. It wasn't an HD TV, so I couldn't read it perfectly, but the gist was "Luke List plays Calloway musclebacks in competition"

 

I know it's a small thing, but compared to "I play a distance iron" over at the TM commercial, I'm really happy to see a "little" truth, even if it is in a disclaimer.

[JMiller]

If you look at the fine print of the TMaG distance claims they also have disclaimers to keep from getting sued over false advertisement.

 

The TMaG fairway woods are one example I know off the top of my head:

"The 17yards additional distance of the RBZ was compared to the R9 at 150mpg ball speed". Not many AMs can reach 150mph ball speed on a driver let alone a fairway metal. The PGA Tour ball speed average is something like 165 on the driver a 157 on a fairway metal if that tells you anything.

 

Every company has marketing slight of hand and when they do you'll get some kind of disclaimer in the fine print of an ad for legal reasons.

[Shambles]

I'm glad to hear that there is, at least, a disclaimer these days. You look backwards at the ads and you'll see the same old 10 more yards in one form or another from every manufacturer, and without a disclaimer. It's well know there is no such thing as a magic club but that silly and inconvenient fact is not going to stop us from continuing to search.

 

 

Shambles

[Tony Covey MGS]

Always read the fine print. That said, having spoken with more than one OEM on the issue, I can assure you that any claim (usually of the distance variety) that makes into an advertisement is basically bulletproof. Legal departments scrutinize the hell out of that stuff, and are often much more conservative than the product and marketing teams would like to be.

 

Using last year's RocketBallz as an specific example. Yeah...the 150 Ballspeed with a fairway thing is significant, however; what the product guys told me is that they believed most golfers (even those sub-150 off a fairway wood) would see the 17 yards. The 150*...that's what it took for legal to be comfortable.

[GolfSpy Barbajo]

Noticed in this year's ads they're saying "better players" saw an extra 17 yards with last year's RBZ? Don't remember the "better player" disclaimer in last year's ads...

[Tony Covey MGS]

Noticed in this year's ads they're saying "better players" saw an extra 17 yards with last year's RBZ? Don't remember the "better player" disclaimer in last year's ads...

 

It was there. "Better players" was in the main text. The fine print went on to describe better players as those who generate 150+MPH ball speed with a fairway wood.

[GolfSpy Barbajo]

Never noticed it last year -- I couldn't get past the "17 extra yards" to pay attention. Part of me was saying "no way," and the other part was saying, "hey now..."

 

As they say, "the mind is a terrible thing!"

[revkev]

Does anyone really seriously believe anything that they see in an ad for anything?

 

As a youth and young adult I played my golf at Fairchild Wheeler in Bridgeport CT (it might actually be in Fairfield its right on the line). The course was right up the street from the PT Barnum museum.

 

You know what he'd say about those who buy into these ads uncritically.

[Shambles]

Does anyone really seriously believe anything that they see in an ad for anything?

 

As a youth and young adult I played my golf at Fairchild Wheeler in Bridgeport CT (it might actually be in Fairfield its right on the line). The course was right up the street from the PT Barnum museum.

 

You know what he'd say about those who buy into these ads uncritically.

 

Seems to me that the primary objective of an ad campaign is to bring the brand name to the attention of the consumer. Repetition and proliferation accomplishes that very well. Further, repetition and successfully penetrating public awareness has a way of lending credibility to a brand. Outrageous claims do not buy credibility but they do plant the seed of possibility and that, often enough, earns the product a look see and a swing which brings up the possibility of a sale. Consider the technical difficulties that were behind the S2H2 design. It never truly delivered in performance, but it sold considerably because of the added attention. Those clubs got a lot of look see and swing action that led to sales.

 

 

Shambles

[RoverRick]

I would just like it to be know that while I make every effort to ensure the accuracy of my posts, I assume no responsibility of errors, omissions, or damage therein caused, and past performance is not indicative to current or future results. This post is not approved by anyone. TT&L not included/nor are batteries.

[revkev]

I would just like it to be know that while I make every effort to ensure the accuracy of my posts, I assume no responsibility of errors, omissions, or damage therein caused, and past performance is not indicative to current or future results. This post is not approved by anyone. TT&L not included/nor are batteries.

 

Would you like approval from my legal department?