The ad started with a frustrated fisherman spending his time with a line in the water with no action. Then along comes the “newest and latest,” a battery operated lure in the shape of a minnow with a flashing light inside.
As any fisherman will tell you, the closer you can come to the real things in creating a lure to use to catch a fish, the better. In fact, many fly fishermen go to great lengths to tie their own flies to “match the hatch,” which allows them to actually present a fly as close to the real thing at the right time as possible. So it comes as a great surprise that a fish would fall for the circus act of a plastic minnow that looks like it swallowed a flashing light bulb on the way to the weeds that morning.
But wait, the commercial includes a segment where the fisherman casts his line to a stopwatch, and low and behold, the gentleman catches a fish in the first 10 seconds. This goes along with their warranty that if you don’t catch a fish in the first 10 seconds of a cast, you get your money back. Who would possibly turn this down? Only $19.95. But wait, “if you act now, or are one of the next 250 callers, we’ll double your order.” Two for the price of one, that’s too good to be true.
And then there’s the ads that claim that if you take this pill you will have a body just like the man in the picture with a skinny waist, monstrous arms and legs, and abs that could be used for moguls at any ski resort.
And even though it’s known that in order to lose weight you simply need to burn off more calories than you take in, anyone can attest to the many magic pills that contest this simple belief. We won’t even get into the pills that enlarge certain parts of the male anatomy, but again it’d take a person hiding in a cave not to have seen these claims through ads also.
The Internet has made all of this communication happen in a substantially accelerated fashion. This means as a consumer, it is more important than ever to become an educated buyer. And this knowledge spans each and every industry, not just fishing, your health and hygiene, but also includes the insurance and investment industries.
There are the folks that claim the world is going to fall apart tomorrow, so make sure you buy their product to survive. Although the financial world appears bleak from time to time, it is highly unlikely that the dollar is going to disappear anytime, soon, and your retirement fund is not going to be taken from you to share with everyone equally.
Between Internet, toll-free numbers and inflated marketing, certain challenges appear that, quite frankly weren’t even an issue 25 years ago. Sometimes it’s a real challenge to keep up with technology.
Take the time to discuss your situation with someone of great expertise as well as honesty and integrity. This way, no matter what the issue is, you can make a more informed decision before actually diving into a purchase.
Otherwise you may end up with huge muscles, a skinny waist, and minnows flashing all around your body to go along with your empty pocket book. Good luck!
Tim Schumacher represents Strategic Financial Partners in Hays.