Asymmetrical Information

What bothers me the most about his worldview is that it assumes that I am too stupid to pass ads through the filter of my experience. Twit.

Where was I reading that the current generation is the most cynical about advertised products?

OTOH I can think of a few instances where an ad introduced me to a product I didn't previously know to exist -- and which I then evaluated in competition with alternative choices, in some cases, finding the product in question to be useful.

Chris: Evidently the advertisers believe that there are a lot of twits out there who won't pass ads through the filter of their experience. Either that, or they just like to waste corporate money.

Yes, I do occasionally see something in an ad I want and didn't know about. But it's generally either a special price on the signboard at Burger King, or something for the job I found in an engineering magazine. But the more razmataz they put into the advertising, the less likely I am to read it. If you can tell me what you're selling in 5 words or less and I might use it, you get 20 more words to tell me specifically how it's different from all the rest. If it sounds like a possible fit to my needs, you've got my attention. Waste those 5 or 25 words on airy generalities, and I don't have time to wait for you to come to the point. Tell me that it's the solution to all my problems and (1) you're a liar, because nothing is a cure-all and you don't know me, and (2) you've wasted your 25 words. Put up a picture of a scantily clad woman, and I'll admire her and ignore both the text and whatever she's draped across - if you've got to sell it that way, I can do without it.

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