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____/ Homer on Tuesday 09 December 2008 19:46 : \____
>
>
> Verily I say unto thee, that chrisv spake thusly:
>> Homer wrote:
>>> Verily I say unto thee, that chrisv spake thusly:
>>>>
>>>> One thing that comes to mind is the "Monster cable" scam. This
>>>> is an organized scam that takes consumers for $millions each
>>>> year. People go to stores and have salesmen LIE to their face
>>>> about the "night and day" benefits of using expensive cables for
>>>> one's audio and video.
>>>>
>>>> Should these asshole bes sued? Arrested? Taken-out and shot?
>>>>
>>>> Maybe all three, but I don't see anyone doing anything about
>>>> it...
>>>
>>> Maybe if they were giving ostensibly impartial recommendations that
>>> were actually paid endorsements, without revealing that fact, then
>>> people might be inclined to complain.
>>
>> Well, it get-into the fuzziness of what is a "paid endorsement".
>> What Monster does do is pay for "marketing retreats", which of course
>> are largely expenses-paid vacations for the retail representatives.
>> There they work-out their scam and how to "market" it to gullible
>> consumers. Then they simply execute their plan, a key feature of
>> which is extraordinary price mark-ups.
>>
>> "Just lie to the consumer so that they buy the overpriced product,
>> and we'll all get rich."
>>
>> Is that a "paid endorsement"? I think it is.
>
> More than that, AFAIAC it's a bribe, and therefore highly unethical. The
> fact that consumers are not made aware of this conflict of interests,
> and the fact that any "recommendation" is therefore not impartial, but
> has in fact been "bought", is also a gross deception.
>
> The problem (re: your reference to enforceability) in dealing with this
> issue, is that one would need to pursue individual salesmen on a
> case-by-case basis, since it is they who are perpetrating the deception.
> AFAIK merely /offering/ this kind of bribe is not, in and of itself,
> either illegal or in violation of any code of practise. IMHO it /should/
> be though. Again AFAIK it is the act of /accepting/ such a bribe, then
> /acting/ on it, that may be (at the very least) in violation of the CAP
> Code. Pursuing individual salesmen is a difficult proposition though.
> What needs to be done is to shut down racketeering-like operations like
> these "marketing retreats" to get to the root of the problem. If this
> scam is occurring within the UK, then I'm not sure the ASA has the
> mandate to do anything about it - perhaps this is a job for the BERR:
>
> http://www.berr.gov.uk/
Someone called this a kickback. It's a form of bribe, an offence.
- --
~~ Best of wishes
Microsoft loves competition.
"I’d be glad to help tilt lotus into into the death spiral. I could do it
Friday afternoon but not Saturday. I could do it pretty much any time the
following week."
--Brad Silverberg, Microsoft
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