Xref: utzoo misc.consumers:26492 alt.activism:9209 talk.environment:2128 comp.org.eff.talk:1315 Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!apple!voder!pyramid!oliveb!felix!asylvain@felix.UUCP From: asylvain@felix.UUCP (Alvin "the Chipmunk" Sylvain) Newsgroups: misc.consumers,alt.activism,talk.environment,comp.org.eff.talk Subject: Re: Here's how to CONTROL YOUR JUNK MAIL Keywords: DMA Suppression junk-mail recycling activism Message-ID: <156344@felix.UUCP> Date: 30 Jan 91 02:38:57 GMT References: <856@argosy.UUCP> <156215@felix.UUCP> <1991Jan27.183118.3335@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> Sender: daemon@felix.UUCP Reply-To: asylvain@felix.UUCP (Alvin "the Chipmunk" Sylvain) Distribution: na Organization: Foundation for the Advancement of Chipmunks Lines: 86 In article <1991Jan27.183118.3335@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> spm2d@newton.acc.Virginia.EDU (Steven P. Miale) writes: > In article <156215@felix.UUCP> asylvain@felix.UUCP (Alvin "the Chipmunk" Sylvain) writes: > >Don't be so all-fired-up certain they're *not* doing a public service. > >When you have a family of four to feed (as I do), you appreciate learn- > >ing about bargains and getting coupons. The rest just goes into the > >trash (eh, recycling bin!). My biggest complaint is that it's the same > >damn set of coupons every week. If you don't happen to like Pizza Hut, > >too bad. But once in a while, you'll get Pollo Loco coupons (which our > >family *does* like), or other values, which is worth an occasional sort. > > Pollo Loco? "Crazy Chicken"? Oh, sounds delicious... :-) It is! Have you tried it? Instead of frying the bird, they char-broil it. There is a whole host of imitators now! > Actually, ARA runs a mexican fast food place at the University called > "El pollo grande" (the big chicken)... Probably an imitator. Like they say, "the sincerest form of flattery ..." > >The average American sees and ignores more than 2000 advertising mes- > >sages every day. You oughta be used to it by now. > > But just because we're used to something doesn't mean we have to take > it. "You oughta be used to tax increases by now, so don't complain" Slightly different ... you can *not* ignore a tax increase! Trust me, I've tried! > >Let's face facts, nobody goes to the library to research what deoderant > >to buy, so the decision is largely based on what advertising has had the > >most effective. *It is true* that without advertising, you simply > >*would not know* about the very existance of the products you buy and > >use. The companies that produce those products would go out of busi- > >ness. Then you (or me, or others like us) would be out of work. > > Yeah! If food manufacturers and grocery stores didn't advertise, > we wouldn't buy any food! (Hey, wait a minute...) You're ignoring a fundamental problem, even with grocery stores. Grocery stores litter the landscape like McDonald's'es. How is one going to get you to drive an extra ten minutes to come to *their* store if they don't tell you they exist? Why should they pay tens of kilo-bucks to advertise on TV to the entire area, when for a mere centa-buck or two they can target just the neigh- borhood? Then add a few money-saving coupons as extra incentive, and viola! Customers show up! > Word about products is accomplished through word of mouth and > "Consumer Reports". Actually, advertisers have a lot of respect for both of these methods. Word-of-Mouth is naturally considered superior, since it's an objective opinion from a trusted friend, relative, or neighbor. But you'll go out of business waiting for Word-of-Mouth to get started! Word-of-Mouth, albeit the most sought after and reliable, happens to be the *slowest* form of advertising in existance! So you put up some billboards, send out some flyers, print up some coupons, and get some people to come in and *try the product*. Then, if your product is good, these experimenters can get the ol' Word-of-Mouth Ball rolling. As for "Consumer Reports," I can only say that they fall into the cate- gory of "Caveot Emptor", like everything else. I have experienced, and have talked to people who have experienced, that very frequently if you are *intimately familiar with the products* that you *disagree* with what they say about them. If you can't trust them on things you know about, how can you trust them for things you *don't* know about? (Altho, I would trust most of their auto surveys. This information is not based on their employees' possibly biased or un-informed opinions, but rather on surveys from their readers.) My point stands. One reason most of us can live the life of luxury that we enjoy is because companies who create products use advertising to get people to buy them. This creates jobs, which puts money into the hands of people, who can then go out and buy more products! -- asylvain@felix.UUCP (Alvin "the Chipmunk" Sylvain) =========== Opinions are Mine, Typos belong to /usr/ucb/vi =========== "We're sorry, but the reality you have dialed is no longer in service. Please check the value of pi, or see your SysOp for assistance." =============== Factual Errors belong to /usr/local/rn =============== UUCP: uunet!{hplabs,fiuggi,dhw68k,pyramid}!felix!asylvain ARPA: {same choices}!felix!asylvain@uunet.uu.net