My mum called a couple of days ago, and told me to put Ideal World shopping channel on to see if I thought that some Silk 'Oil of Morocco' products showing on there were worth buying. I couldn't help but be a little wound up by the selling tactics used on the show though.
Firstly, they kept talking about 'another well known Argan Oil product' and how it was full of rubbish, not good for your hair and didn't get good results etc - it was quite clear to me, that they were talking about MoroccanOil, a product I use very regularly and a product I am over the moon with, every time I use it... and a product that many others that I know feel the same about, including reading on other beauty blogs.
They then demonstrated the 'other oil' on a model, and put it all literally in one small section of hair, which would make any hair oily and limp, using ANY product - even their own. I assume this was to make it appear that using this 'other' product would give you greasy, lifeless and limp hair which is simply not true. Look at the difference in how they apply it in the photographs below (please click to enlarge):
Now look at the finished result of the (what I believe to be) MorrocanOil hair:
They then applied their Oil of Morocco to the other side, in a much different and much more normal manner. This of course gave the appearance of a better result, and thus a 'better product' - am I being cynical? Have a look:
The red-headed model's hair actually looked greasy by the time they had put their product in, I don't know if it comes across in the picture but it really stood out to me, probably because they were going on about how it DIDN'T make the hair greasy at the same time. It's also quite obviously been properly curled, using some tool, which will always make the hair less frizzy - especially if it's a heated tool.
Surely it would have been better for them to style the hair in BOTH pictures in the same way, so that the result being shown would be a fair, and realistic comparison for people to then make an educated decision on whether to buy the product or not?
I know this is a tactic used by many brands, to make their 'after' results look even more amazing (I'm thinking lash inserts and other, similar advertising 'tricks'), but to do it so blatantly and whilst slating another brand just seems to be taking it a bit too far if you ask me... which you didn't, but I'm telling you anyway, haha!
It actually made me feel that I couldn't really trust the products being shown, it's like they can't show more realistic results because they wouldn't have as much of a 'wow' factor to them (or any factor, maybe?)! I obviously told my mum to just continue to use MoroccanOil as she knows and loves it, and I didn't want her to waste money on, or be disappointed in another product that neither of us knew much about!
I would much rather see a realistic image/piece of video footage that shows exactly how the product performs - even if it had less 'wow' factor. It would make me have a million times more faith in the brand, and product and would surely cause them less problems with advertising standards and complaints being made! This is why I rely on blogs (and why I started mine) as for the most part, you know you're getting real people showing real results! :-)
What do you make of it, is this something that annoys you with advertisements? Have you tried this brand's Argan oil products before?
Firstly, they kept talking about 'another well known Argan Oil product' and how it was full of rubbish, not good for your hair and didn't get good results etc - it was quite clear to me, that they were talking about MoroccanOil, a product I use very regularly and a product I am over the moon with, every time I use it... and a product that many others that I know feel the same about, including reading on other beauty blogs.
They then demonstrated the 'other oil' on a model, and put it all literally in one small section of hair, which would make any hair oily and limp, using ANY product - even their own. I assume this was to make it appear that using this 'other' product would give you greasy, lifeless and limp hair which is simply not true. Look at the difference in how they apply it in the photographs below (please click to enlarge):
See, a much lighter and natural application!
The other issue I had with the show is their before and after photographs. Their before pictures (on the left) are clearly un-styled and untreated by anything, in fact I'd say in the blonde model's photograph, they looked like they might have messed her hair up for the before photo, what do you think? Then, in the after photographs, the hair had clearly been styled to within an inch of its life for a lot of the photographs.
Surely it would have been better for them to style the hair in BOTH pictures in the same way, so that the result being shown would be a fair, and realistic comparison for people to then make an educated decision on whether to buy the product or not?
I know this is a tactic used by many brands, to make their 'after' results look even more amazing (I'm thinking lash inserts and other, similar advertising 'tricks'), but to do it so blatantly and whilst slating another brand just seems to be taking it a bit too far if you ask me... which you didn't, but I'm telling you anyway, haha!
It actually made me feel that I couldn't really trust the products being shown, it's like they can't show more realistic results because they wouldn't have as much of a 'wow' factor to them (or any factor, maybe?)! I obviously told my mum to just continue to use MoroccanOil as she knows and loves it, and I didn't want her to waste money on, or be disappointed in another product that neither of us knew much about!
I would much rather see a realistic image/piece of video footage that shows exactly how the product performs - even if it had less 'wow' factor. It would make me have a million times more faith in the brand, and product and would surely cause them less problems with advertising standards and complaints being made! This is why I rely on blogs (and why I started mine) as for the most part, you know you're getting real people showing real results! :-)
What do you make of it, is this something that annoys you with advertisements? Have you tried this brand's Argan oil products before?
As a rule I avoid any product like the plague if their way of promoting is basically a smear campaign of another established product xx
ReplyDeleteI was about to say what georgia on my mind said.
ReplyDeletexxx
Totally agree - I feel like if a brand has to do that, it can't be that great if it can't build up its own customer base without resorting to slagging off other brands.
ReplyDeleteOh, i hate the over exaggerated way they sell things on shopping channels! Its so silly. I would much rather read a real persons opinion than someone who is being paid to do it on telly. And the slagging off other brands is just not cricket.
ReplyDeleteTut.
Evelyn
x
http://furcoatsbutdefinitelyknickers.blogspot.com/
this is so ridiculous, i completely agree with you & very tempted to write to the shopping channel! I hope people don't fall for these sneaky techniques x
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of before and after pictures for weight loss or body building, where the model always looks scruffy and miserable and slouchy in the "before" image, and then for the second one they're tidy, smiling, and pulling a more appealing pose.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with you that they should style the hair the same using both products.
It's really pathetic what a company will do to sell a product! It's time they wised up to the fact that we do notice, and we do talk about it ;)
It's actually illegal to slate other brands, even without naming them as such if their claims aren't true!
ReplyDeleteAnything they say on these shows MUST be backed up by scientific evidence, so if they say their product is better than the 'leading brand' then they must have tests to prove so!
Otherwise it is false advertising, and unlawful under the Sales of Goods Act 1979!
End of rant! :)