rollerblading underpants: Wild Advertising Claims

Professional Idiot

Join Date: Apr 2003

Location: London, UK

Posts: 2,537

Is it just me that gets a little bugged by providers who make ads which are either clearly untrue, or simply something they could never prove? I'm not talking about the usual stuff like 24/7 support, but for example ..

On WHT right now there's two different VPS offers that both say something like 'the best VPS your money can buy' - well they can't both be true?

There's also a banner ad which says 'Best uptime in the industry' - Really? you've monitored every other provider on the planet and can show the stats?

I don't know what regulation there is in the US for advertising, in the UK we have the ASA and here's a little reminder that you can't just say what you want when you write that next advert.

http://www.asa.org.uk/Rulings/Adjudi...DJ_173899.aspx

Thoughts? As a provider, do you ever challenge other company ads through bodies such as the ASA?

WHT Addict

Join Date: Feb 2011

Posts: 139

hey man that's how the world is like nowadays, not just the hosting industry
all the hosting providers want to make their products stand out so they have to come up with some kind of catch phrase

Community Guide

Join Date: Apr 2002

Location: Kansas City, MO

Posts: 1,951

Words like "best" are subjective. When I say I'm the best lover in the world that is my opinion and although most women would probably agree with that statement there are going to be some hard core lesbians out there that don't.

When a VPS provider says they're the best they probably think they are and there might be others that agree.

Best uptime? Maybe they've had 100% uptime on every server (all 1 of them) for the last 5 seconds.

It's all about the basis of their claims and the opinion words they use.

Junior Guru Wannabe

Join Date: Nov 2011

Posts: 67

Quote:

When a VPS provider says they're the best they probably think they are and there might be others that agree.

Best uptime? Maybe they've had 100% uptime on every server (all 1 of them) for the last 5 seconds.

It's all about the basis of their claims and the opinion words they use.

Got a good chuckle out of your post. Its just how advertising works. Do you expect them to put
"Average host with OK prices",
no, no one is going to do that.
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LiteSpeed Enthusiast

Join Date: Nov 2009

Location: United Kingdom

Posts: 6,821

As much as the "smaller guys" do it within this industry I can assure many of the "top dogs" do it just as bad...

Just browse several of the "biggies" in this industry and you'll see what I mean.

Regards,

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Premium Member

Join Date: Aug 2010

Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malasiya

Posts: 589

This is the way people advertise their businesses now. I'd have to agree with cd/home, even the industry leaders don't care much about the terms they use. Some of them can be misleading at times, and false advertising later results in a bunch of angry customers who didn't get what they expected. Problem with the hosting industry is that everyother day a kid is opening a webhosting website, and there is no way they can be stopped or regulated.

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Junior Guru Wannabe

Join Date: Jul 2012

Location: Singapore

Posts: 72

This is how business/world works, unethical, backstabbing, lying.
The world is now immoral.

Apple announced that iPhone 5 was the first phone to have 4G support.
That was obviously a lie, there were many smartphones with 4G support before iPhone 5 came out.

Junior Guru Wannabe

Join Date: Jun 2012

Posts: 63

This is Just a Marketing Thought to attract Customers. Just Use your Mind & Commonsense, This Will Lead you to your way.

Wouldn't want a custom title

Join Date: Aug 2001

Posts: 1,202

Quote:

When I say I'm the best lover in the world that is my opinion and although most women would probably agree with that statement there are going to be some hard core lesbians out there that don't.

Quote:

Best uptime? Maybe they've had 100% uptime on every server (all 1 of them) for the last 5 seconds

Nice summary overall

Web Host Reviewer

Join Date: Feb 2006

Location: Kepler-22b

Posts: 7,700

Quote:

'the best VPS your money can buy'
'Best uptime in the industry'

This is all hyperbole. There's nothing overtly "wild" about those claims.
Everybody thinks they're best.

Would you use a company that says they're mediocre, but good enough?

Quote:

iPhone 5 was the first phone to have 4G support..

This is an example of a false claim.
... assuming GIANT_CRAB is accurate with his claim of it being a false claim. I didn't verify.

Professional Idiot

Join Date: Apr 2003

Location: London, UK

Posts: 2,537

Web Hosting Master

Join Date: Oct 2010

Posts: 1,395

It's subjective.

What company enjoys success while advertising they are the worst?

Well, Rudy's BBQ in Texas does claim to be the worst BBQ in Texas and they're pretty good.

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Web Host Reviewer

Join Date: Feb 2006

Location: Kepler-22b

Posts: 7,700

Quote:

Well, Rudy's BBQ in Texas does claim to be the worst BBQ in Texas and they're pretty good.

Not to veer too far OT, but... Rudy's isn't all that good. I'd rather have Spring Creek. If you're near Austin or San Antonio, go to The Salt Lick in Buda/Driftwood (little nowhere town south of Austin on I-35). Just print a map before you go. Much better BBQ, veggies, and everything else. BYOB, too, if you need a brew. Warning: Cash only.

And now I'm hungry.

.
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WHT Addict

Join Date: Aug 2008

Location: England, UK

Posts: 170

Quote:

Best uptime? Maybe they've had 100% uptime on every server (all 1 of them) for the last 5 seconds.

It appears that a complainant can request proof of a host uptime claims to be substantiated too:
http://www.asa.org.uk/Rulings/Non-co...OSTUK-Ltd.aspx

I wonder how they would find for unlimited claims? (withdraws to bunker )

WHT Addict

Join Date: Apr 2007

Posts: 156

Nice one! Still have the chuckle on my face... In marketing it is often the case one uses subjective assumptions for psychological reasons - when you see words like "best", "top", "quality",and all the "-est"'s out there, the prospect is presumed to want to try the vendor out. And as someone above said, would you seriously consider a company if they said something along the lines of being average or just mainstream?

I agree, it may be best to try and leave the meaningless superlatives out of your marketing campaigns, yet, as cheap as it is, it does work on the "lesser" minds, I guess... In this respect, I quite like the rules in Google AdWords, where you're not to provide misleading information, or else your ad comes a cropper.

This reminds me the situation when you go to, say, Petticoat Lane Market on Saturday and every seller is shoving their goods in your face with the "best" argument!