It’s not a sports bra, noooooooo, it’s a miracle fiber that holds its shape and won’t roll up from the bottom… it lifts, separates and is the most comfortable bra ever, etc. Cheaply shot, the ad is somehow effective, if my wife is the judge, and as I said, she’s the market. The ad does something well: it tells a story women want to believe, are almost programmed to believe (like men and “pickup lines that work like magic”).
Of course, there’s the idiotic offer which screams rip off: one bra is $59… but wait, two bras are $59… but wait, three bras are $59… but wait, six bras are $59, just pay separate shipping and handling.
15 years ago, pre-Internet, this ad might have generated a lot of sales. But it’s 2011… so what does my wife do? She goes to the Internet, types “Genie Bra” and up comes the dirty truth.
You can read it if you visit: http://www.asseenontvonsale.com/clothing/genie-bra/
Let’s learn a lesson here: you can’t make outrageous claims like it’s 1950 and consumers have no way to verify — consumers can get to the truth in an instant. Here’s what my wife found.
The bra is cheaply made, according to most comments, it does not lift and separate but rather flattens and pushes things together, “like I have one breast,” says a woman. Oh and get this — delivery takes months… yes, months 6 weeks, 8 weeks, 12 weeks.
The guarantee? Send them back if you're not thrilled, but shipping and handling are not refunded and you must pay to return. How much can it cost to ship and handle six bras that weigh less than a couple of ounces? How’s $25 sound? And to return? Another $25. As one woman put it, it would cost $51 to return bras that cost $59. You get the picture.
Again, it took two Web seconds to find out all the dirt — yet these guys continue to make ads like it’s 1975 when there was no way to get the instant scoop on products.
“Why keep making these ads?” you ask.
Don’t underestimate their guile.
The business model isn’t “let’s create a great bra and women will flock to us,” instead it’s, “let’s sell a cheap product then make it impossible to return; so, we’ll get $59 when women keep them or $51 when they are returned." It’s win-win for the company… we don’t care if consumers trash our product, we don’t care about repeat sales, we don’t care about satisfied customers.
Imagine: yet another TV ad that doesn’t live up to the hype, that disappoints, that has consumers caught in a no win situation.
And now you wonder why TV ads don’t work???? Why DR marketers are perceived as bottom feeders and why a good product has a hard time making it, unless the goal is to turn a profit on shipping and consumer disappointment and apathy.
Disgraceful.
PS: I’ll bet the Genie Bra guys (or girls, who knows, really) think they’re ‘entrepreneurs’ following the American dream… just like P.T. Barnum.
