Okay, why is clickbait now trying to make a flashlight edgy?
Jan 19, 2017 3:23:31 GMT -5
willywonka666 and Push R Truth like this
Post by SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman on Jan 19, 2017 3:23:31 GMT -5
In my continued bafflement of clickbait and other inexplicable advertising technique, I now present you this: for some reason, for the past week or so, I've been seeing those ads for a flashlight EVERYWHERE (I presume it's always the same model, or else it's even weirder). On my news app, on almost every website regardless of what the site is actually about, etc...
So it's weird enough to be spammed constantly with ads for a flashlight of all things, but then there's the fact that the advertisers, in their infinite wisdom, have decided to sell it by trying to make it sound like the most controversial thing ever.
Literally every single one of these ads has some stock picture (which doesn't bode well for how much the sellers actually trust their goddamn flashlight to stand on its own merits) and a caption that says something along the lines of "FIND OUT WHY THIS FLASHLIGHT IS SO CONTROVERSIAL!" or "SHOULD THIS FLASHLIGHT BE BANNED?".
Okay, first, is the "overpowered flashlight enthusiast" demographic really that wide to advertise to them so aggressively?
Second, it's a freaking flashlight. It's never going to be controversial. Ever. Nobody gets into passionate arguments over flashlights. It's just not a thing.
Third, the only possible context in which I could see a flashlight be "controversial" is if it's so ridiculously bright it can cause eye damage (whichcome to think of it is probably true of any flashlight if you stare at it like a dumbass for too long). How is that a selling point? Oh man, I can potentially injure someone and then go to jail! Sweet!
And last but not least, WHY would you try to sell a flashlight using clickbait tactics? Here's how you advertise a flashlight: you show it turning on and illuminating something, maybe have one example inside a room and another outside so you can show off how useful it is in both situations. Do you really think advertising it like this is going to make people go "Oh wow! I never heard of this controversy before but this shitty add assures me that it's controversial! I've GOT to get me that flashlight that I have no use for now!".
So it's weird enough to be spammed constantly with ads for a flashlight of all things, but then there's the fact that the advertisers, in their infinite wisdom, have decided to sell it by trying to make it sound like the most controversial thing ever.
Literally every single one of these ads has some stock picture (which doesn't bode well for how much the sellers actually trust their goddamn flashlight to stand on its own merits) and a caption that says something along the lines of "FIND OUT WHY THIS FLASHLIGHT IS SO CONTROVERSIAL!" or "SHOULD THIS FLASHLIGHT BE BANNED?".
Okay, first, is the "overpowered flashlight enthusiast" demographic really that wide to advertise to them so aggressively?
Second, it's a freaking flashlight. It's never going to be controversial. Ever. Nobody gets into passionate arguments over flashlights. It's just not a thing.
Third, the only possible context in which I could see a flashlight be "controversial" is if it's so ridiculously bright it can cause eye damage (whichcome to think of it is probably true of any flashlight if you stare at it like a dumbass for too long). How is that a selling point? Oh man, I can potentially injure someone and then go to jail! Sweet!
And last but not least, WHY would you try to sell a flashlight using clickbait tactics? Here's how you advertise a flashlight: you show it turning on and illuminating something, maybe have one example inside a room and another outside so you can show off how useful it is in both situations. Do you really think advertising it like this is going to make people go "Oh wow! I never heard of this controversy before but this shitty add assures me that it's controversial! I've GOT to get me that flashlight that I have no use for now!".
They're almost a foot long, so it'd have been like hitting that dude with nightsticks.
