>On Fri, Jan 15, 1999 at 11:23:25PM -0800, Javilk wrote:
>> Well, if you don't spend money marketing a product, you will not have
>> anything to pay for developing the product.
>
>I'm not making that argument that people shouldn't market their products.
>
>I'm making the argument that some marketing techniques are unethical;
>in particular, those which have *nothing* to do with the features/merits
>of the product and are instead designed to pander to the prospective
>clientele. I've already cited the example of the showbiz booths at
>Comdex, which I feel are unconscionable; I'd add to that list, oh,
>some of the Michelin commercials ("Buy our tires or your baby will die"),
>all of the Nike commercials ("Buy our shoes and play basketball like Michael
>Jordan"), a great many car commercials ("Buy our car and get laid"), and
>about a bazillion others.
>
>Yes, I *know* that these tactics work. But whether or not they work
>is a separate issue from whether or not they're ethical.
Rich, I wholeheartedly agree. Here's a column from Mercury Center by Dan
Gilmor about some sleazy marketing by Iomega. You will no doubt doubly
enjoy this as an example of Comdex marketing hype :) [read carefully to
note the timeline the writer is laying out]
-----------------------------------------------------------
Why I feel no zip for Iomega
Jan. 15, 1999
BY DAN GILLMOR
Mercury News Technology Columnist
THE COMDEX technology industry gathering in November 1997 had its normal
annoyances, such as long lines and grumpy show-goers, but nothing was as
irritating as the endless, staccato clicks from noisemakers given out by an
exhibitor.
The clickers were Iomega Corp.'s way of getting attention for a product the
company had announced long before Comdex, something called the ``Clik!''
disk drive, a tiny device that Iomega said would hold 40 megabytes of data.
The company said the drive resulted from its ``in-hand'' technology,
announced the year before in another burst of noise.
Iomega says it shipped the Clik drive last month.
More at http://www.mercurycenter.com/columnists/gillmor/docs/dg011599.htm
Barry
--
Barry Lee Brisco <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Web Design & Development - Online Marketing <http://www.ToTheWeb.com>
Web portfolio at <http://www.ToTheWeb.com/portfolio.html>
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