Marketing Spin

[John Mendenhall]

You could introduce a 60/40 fat to sugar version and sell it as 'New Reduced Sugar version. Or, an all sugar version and sell it as 'Fat Free'

Ridiculous. Where can I buy some?

[Trebuchet]

I've seen a big "Gluten Free!" sign on a display of bottled water.

Back to badge engineering, when I was still subscribing to car magazines years back, during the era when British-Leyland was dying, there was a picture of a new MG model they wanted to introduce. It was a Honda CRX painted green.

[captain swoop]

I've seen a big "Gluten Free!" sign on a display of bottled water.

Back to badge engineering, when I was still subscribing to car magazines years back, during the era when British-Leyland was dying, there was a picture of a new MG model they wanted to introduce. It was a Honda CRX painted green.

MG was part of Rover when Layland was split up and privatised, they were involved with the Rover badged Hondas so it's not as daft as it might seem. MG ended up as standard Rover models with hotter engines and more sporty suspension and trim.

[Noisy Rhysling]

Remember Clarkson? "I asked the dealer why the exact same car cost $1,000 more for the Hyundai than for the KIA? He said 'You're paying for the name.' "

:derail: The first time I was in a Hyundai was in Pusan, c. 1982. I got a cab back to the harbor from a part of town that was a few hundred feet above water level. As we're going down a cobblestone street both front wheels chose independent course of action and broke their bonds with the mother car. No brakes, a long slide down the hill, the harbor at the bottom. Happily there was a fence.

BTW, I can't imagine a GI buying a car whose name spells out "Killed In Action". :/derail:

[ToSeek]

That would go perfect on some wedding cakes. I know several people who wanted apparently huge, layered wedding cakes, but only a couple of layers are actually cake; the others are just styrofoam disks covered in icing and other decorations.

I read an anecdote about a married couple who froze a slice of their wedding cake to eat it later. When they took it out and defrosted it, they found it was icing-covered styrofoam.

[Extravoice]

We saved the top of our wedding cake in my mother in law's freezer. Supposedly , it is good luck to eat it on your first anniversary.

Turns out that my brother in law ate it sometime during the year, thinking it was just some leftover cake.


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[captain swoop]

'Not actual game footage'
As seen in every game advert.
Only computer game adverts seem to get away with this.

Dave Gorman sums it up nicely

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhTUh7BhQw4

[BigDon]

Good one mon Capitaine.

Though that guy might like ARK; Survival Evolved.

[Noisy Rhysling]

"50% more!"

than a bottle 2/3s that size.

Aiming for the reflex bargain hunter there.

"Economy size!"

Yeah, buy just one and the economy will rebound. But who really needs 50 pounds of malomars?

[captain swoop]

I remember back in the days of the old Sinclair Spectrum and such old 8 bit machines when the art work on the package was the best part of the game.

[Noisy Rhysling]

I remember back in the days of the old Sinclair Spectrum and such old 8 bit machines when the art work on the package was the best part of the game.

Pixelated to death so you had to pretend that was a dragon. Yeah.

[WaxRubiks]

yea, present day real game footage is better than the artwork on game boxes in the 80s..

[loglo]

New 'Improved' Recipe

(we put in cheaper ingredients)

Also undersized chocolate bars sold as 'Fun Size' bigger bars aren't fun?

Reducing the size of the bar by 20% then re-releasing it as '10% extra for no extra cost".

[swampyankee]

Does anybody remember cars advertised with "road hugging weight?"

or cigarettes as soothing for the throat?

or Carter's liver pills?

[Extravoice]

My parents would sometimes refer to Carter's liver pills, but I never knew what they were talking about.

I'd read that one cigarette company claimed that more doctors smoked their brand than others.

This claim was based solely on the fact they were the most popular brand in general.



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[Noisy Rhysling]

Does anybody remember cars advertised with "road hugging weight?"

or cigarettes as soothing for the throat?

or Carter's liver pills?

"Marlboro, doctor recommended!"

[Nicolas]

Badge engineering has been around forever. Why does this Lancia Delta have a Saab badge? And why does a Fiat Croma look so much like a Lancia Thema that looks so much like a Saab 9000? Up to the point where you can randomly order a windshield for either of those and still get the right part?

You don't buy a product, you buy a name stuck on a product.

[ozduck]

In Australia in an, unfortunately eventually forlorn, attempt to save local vehicle manufacturing you had General Motors-Holden (GMH) selling rebadged Toyotas'. Toyota selling rebadged GMH vehicles, Ford selling rebadged Mazdas'. And, way back, Chrysler selling rebadged Mitsubishis'.

[pzkpfw]

In Australia in an, unfortunately eventually forlorn, attempt to save local vehicle manufacturing you had General Motors-Holden (GMH) selling rebadged Toyotas'. Toyota selling rebadged GMH vehicles, Ford selling rebadged Mazdas'. And, way back, Chrysler selling rebadged Mitsubishis'.

Then there was this oddity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_Roadpacer_AP

[ozduck]

Then there was this oddity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_Roadpacer_AP

More of an abomination rather than just an oddity. Obviously some very creative backroom deals were going on.

EDIT: Looking around I see that the deal was done because " of GM's toying with the Wankel rotary engine, as used by Mazda of Japan, an export agreement was initiated in 1975."

[swampyankee]

Badge engineering has been around forever. Why does this Lancia Delta have a Saab badge? And why does a Fiat Croma look so much like a Lancia Thema that looks so much like a Saab 9000? Up to the point where you can randomly order a windshield for either of those and still get the right part?

You don't buy a product, you buy a name stuck on a product.

One of my uncles (I had, at one time, quite a few. I'm down to two) owned a garage. The only difference between Cadillac and (iirc) Oldsmobile parts was the name on the box.

[Trebuchet]

Then there was this oddity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_Roadpacer_AP

More of an abomination rather than just an oddity. Obviously some very creative backroom deals were going on.

EDIT: Looking around I see that the deal was done because " of GM's toying with the Wankel rotary engine, as used by Mazda of Japan, an export agreement was initiated in 1975."

Especially when you consider Ford owned at least 7% of Mazda at the time!

[Nicolas]

One of my uncles (I had, at one time, quite a few. I'm down to two) owned a garage. The only difference between Cadillac and (iirc) Oldsmobile parts was the name on the box.

Which reminds me of the following. Which is not considered badge engineering, but still a form of paying for the name: low-level, all cars consist of quite a lot of generic parts. Things like circuit breakers and light bulbs obviously, but also things like sensors. Across many vehicles, the specs of those are standardized. There are many different manufacturers of a part with the same specs, and they are interchangeable. Ignoring quality differences between manufacturers, they're all the same. Take for example a radiator temperature switch: a huge percentage of vehicles across brands uses an 83°C switch with the same thread. It's an industry standard. And none of those switches are "Ford", "Mercedes" or whatever, they're all made by the big OEM's like Bosch, Marelli etc. However, you'll often see that if you'd buy this switch through the car dealer for a very expensive car, it's a lot more expensive than if you'd buy it for a poor excuse for a car. Even when it's the same part from the same OEM. You'll even see this with the specialists for rare classic cars. So when I need for example that switch for a sought after classic Lancia Delta Integrale, I buy the one for the Fiat Ritmo. Costs 5€ instead of 37€ and it's the very same part in the very same box! I had the same experience with driveshaft bolts for a Porsche: bought those for a Beetle. Much cheaper, same part. There's a whole trade/scam going on here where people sell generic parts but advertised solely for the exclusive car that also happens to use it, of course for a sick premium. You have to dig down to the spec sheets to find the affordable source. Which means of course that those expensive sellers tend to not share the specs. So you'll buy the "original spec spark plugs" but until the day you find out just what the "Original spec" is and find the corresponding NGK plugs cheap yourself, you'll pay 3 times their value from the golddiggers.

[Trebuchet]

A co-worker of mine many years ago had a Renault 10. The front wheel bearings failed. He had to order them from France. When he opened the Renault labeled box, the actual parts were engraved "Timken", with a number.
He went ahead and installed over a weekend, because he needed the car, but when he got back to work he called our bearing supplier and gave them the number. Five bucks, how many ya want?
He'd paid Renault $70.

[captain swoop]

That doesn't happen so much these days, manufacturers have custom races made so that they are slightly different to standard manufacturers inventory.

[Tom Mazanec]

When I was about five years old, my mother had a bottle of soft drink that was advertised as having only one calorie.
I thought a calorie was like a little fish, and if you drank half the bottle you would either swallow the calorie or not, 50/50 chance.

[Trebuchet]

When I was about five years old, my mother had a bottle of soft drink that was advertised as having only one calorie.
I thought a calorie was like a little fish, and if you drank half the bottle you would either swallow the calorie or not, 50/50 chance.

The bottle probably also had a subtle label noting that it contained two servings, because who wants to label something as having two calories?

[Noclevername]

Gluten free.

No added sugar.

0 trans-fats.

[Trebuchet]

I just saw a commercial for a tape measure that's good for falls of "up to sixty feet" and immediately thought of this thread.

[Nicolas]

That's just a continuation of the old "his heart stood still..." Pontiac watches commercial:

"His neck was snapped, but his tape measure was still in one piece".