Hopper Commercial Misleading

[mdram]

i had someone ask me about it
i explained the ptat
the also asked about viewing from other rooms
i explained the joey, and how it uses a hopper tuner
reponse was

basicaly this

so i can record 6 things, 4 of which are locals, only during prime time, but i cant watch live tv from 2 rooms, and record anything other then locals during prime time?

needless to say they considered it an outright lie

 

[Lt Disher]

That Ergen quote about having a license to lie is appalling.

Not being in the conversation, I cannot say for sure but it sounds like he was talking tongue in cheek. It is a joke. Don't you get it? Have you never said something trying to get a chuckle or a response out of the other person. He's a regular guy chatting and being funny.

 

[Centex]

needless to say they considered it an outright lie

OK

Ads use phrases all the time like "Up to", "as much as", and "As low as". A car dealer may advertise interest rates "as low as" 2.99%, but that does not mean that everyone will get that rate, just that the person that meets all qualifiers will get that rate. Dish advertises that you can record "up to" 6 programs at a time. And the fine print clarifies that you must use PTAT, during primetime hours, etc.

 

[Tampa8]

i had someone ask me about it
i explained the ptat
the also asked about viewing from other rooms
i explained the joey, and how it uses a hopper tuner
reponse was

basicaly this

so i can record 6 things, 4 of which are locals, only during prime time, but i cant watch live tv from 2 rooms, and record anything other then locals during prime time?

needless to say they considered it an outright lie

Can you explain better so I can disagree? What you wrote as a whole is wrong. It's not "needless to say" because you have to explain better how everyone considers that a lie.

"so i can record 6 things, 4 of which are locals, only during prime time, but i cant watch live tv from 2 rooms" That part is correct, the ad says nothing about watching live, so how is that statement a lie?" I think it becomes ridiculous to think ads are going to explain every possible scenario.

"but i cant watch live tv from 2 rooms, and record anything other then locals during prime time?" That part is not true, you can record or watch live the two remaining tuners when PTAT is being used.

They didn't mention you can watch a recorded program while the six tuners are being used either, so does that make it a lie too?

 

[gadams]

Is there really anybody out there who's been watching commercials or reading ads for the last decade or two who doesn't know what "up to" means? It can either be "some people get this all of the time" or "all people get this some of the time," but it never means "all people get this all of the time." Up to is a qualifier, and you don't include a qualifier if the statement can stand by itself all the time.

For those of you who are saying Dish should have been more explicit, think about the complexity of the technical solution, how many messages and threads we've had here discussing it, and then think of how to get that across in a 30 second commercial, while still delivering that "I've got to check that out" feeling in the customer, instead of "what did they just say?" I won't say it can't be done, but it doesn't sound easy to me.

 

[Tampa8]

Is there really anybody out there who's been watching commercials or reading ads for the last decade or two who doesn't know what "up to" means? It can either be "some people get this all of the time" or "all people get this some of the time," but it never means "all people get this all of the time." Up to is a qualifier, and you don't include a qualifier if the statement can stand by itself all the time.

For those of you who are saying Dish should have been more explicit, think about the complexity of the technical solution, how many messages and threads we've had here discussing it, and then think of how to get that across in a 30 second commercial, while still delivering that "I've got to check that out" feeling in the customer, instead of "what did they just say?" I won't say it can't be done, but it doesn't sound easy to me.

Better said than I could do.

 

[TheKrell]

I don't know where you get that about DEC. In the 70's and 80's they marketed the he** out of industry and government, here and overseas. They were at every trade show with a cast of dozens. Their business model was to sell big ticket items, and you don't do that advertising on TV.

Point well taken; I was only thinking about TV. But now that I've racked my brain further, I do remember an excellent TV science series supported by Digital. I suppose you could consider the whole hour an institutional ad, though the programs themselves were not about Digital.

I joined the federal government in the early 90's, and I don't remember ever getting marketed. My DEC sales rep was memorable for her drop-dead gorgeous face, worth at least 990 ships. I saw her maybe once/year, darn it.

 

[DodgerKing]

I see your point but as long as that customer is inquiring about it then the commercial is working. I he called me it is now my job to educate him and explain why the Hopper will still work for him. As long as the customer is calling about it then it's working. Now I guess there are exceptions to this but as long as the info Dish is advertising is true for the most part then I'm ok with it. I'm rolling my Hopper ads out next week.

Could very well be true.

 

[DodgerKing]

Actually you prove the point of the ad, and that is to get you to want to know more. In this case, your father in law called you, he was interested enough to want to know more. Since he knew your were up to speed on this stuff and he knew he could trust you, he called you first. Had you not been available, as you are not to most of the rest of the world, then he would most likely have called Dish. And that is EXACTLY what Dish wants the ad to have happen.

After he found out what was really meant by 6 programs at once, he was no longer interested. My concern is for those that get it thinking they can record any 6 programs at one time without finding out what they really meant. It would be better if the business never put themselves in that position to begin with.

 

[DodgerKing]

What will happen is D* will come out with their own version of a misleading ad doing that explaining. Ads are short, you make a point that makes people want to know more. You cannot explain MRV completely in a 15 or 30 second ad, hell not even in a 60 minute one. And D* is very good at advertising, which is the art of almost saying something.

It would have been better to focus on the things that the Hopper can do that other others cannot, such as their Prime Time Anytime.

If Directs is misleading or not, that is not the point. The point is, once you do mislead it then opens the door for your competition to jump all over you, making you look worse than you really are.

I can see Direct already making commercials with the side by side MRV comparisons that start off by saying, "Dish network claims that the Hopper can record 6 shows at one time, let's look at what they really mean....", along with, "Now lets compare the Hopper to DirecTVs MRV system. Directs can do _____________, while Dish cannot."

If Dish were to focus on what they can do and what they bring that is different than the others, not only does it make for a more appealing product, not only is it more honest, it also gives their competition less room to contradict what they say, thus making Dish stronger.

 

[DodgerKing]

They don't even have to lie. That's the real sad part.

All they have to say is six tuners during primetime hours or six tuners with our primetime Anytime feature enabled.

Their marketing department is doing a poor job by not selling the primetime anytime when mentioning the six tuners.

(haven't watched the commercial yet)

Exactly. Good advertising focuses in on the hook, what you can bring that the others cannot.

The focus should be on this one golden item they have that separates them from all of the other providers, Prime Time Anytime.

 

[david_jr]

Is there really anybody out there who's been watching commercials or reading ads for the last decade or two who doesn't know what "up to" means? It can either be "some people get this all of the time" or "all people get this some of the time," but it never means "all people get this all of the time." Up to is a qualifier, and you don't include a qualifier if the statement can stand by itself all the time.

For those of you who are saying Dish should have been more explicit, think about the complexity of the technical solution, how many messages and threads we've had here discussing it, and then think of how to get that across in a 30 second commercial, while still delivering that "I've got to check that out" feeling in the customer, instead of "what did they just say?" I won't say it can't be done, but it doesn't sound easy to me.

Anyone ever get anywhere near the mileage advertised on the window sticker? I've never come close. As far as the tongue in cheek comments, I once had a lawyer tell me that having a law degree was like having a license to steal. I'm sure he was just being funny and not literally stealing from his clients. People just say stuff.

 

[TheKrell]

My 2006 Chevy Equinox is right on, both city and highway. My 1982 Mazda RX7 actually did much better than it's highway rating.

 

[ShawnDishInstaller]

Which is pretty sweet cause at least for me that covers ~60% - 70% of the shows i like to watch. It uses one tuner to record 4 chan and doesnt use your hard drive. seems like a sweet deal to me

 

[DodgerKing]

My 2006 Chevy Equinox is right on, both city and highway. My 1982 Mazda RX7 actually did much better than it's highway rating.

I think you meant to post this in the Hybrid car thread?

 

[DodgerKing]

Case and point

http://www.satelliteguys.us/directv-forum/279858-does-directv-have-answer-hopper-13.html#post2817930

I've been on Directv for a few years and wanted the HR34, but they wanted $400 for it. So, I decided to install dish. Got 1 hopper and 3 joeys. After 3 days, I am now back with directv and they gave me the HR34 free.....

Issues with the hopper/Joey from my opinion.
1. Only 3 real tuners. The Prime-time thing is horrible because it only keeps those recordings for 8 days and then automatically deletes them. They say you can save them, but you have to do it manually for each episode you want to keep. So if you are like me and get a few weeks behind, unless you remember to click save, they are gone.
2. Maybe it's the installer, but the picture was horrible on the hopper/joeys. Even my wife noticed a difference in picture.
3. I had problems with hopper the second day, so none of my tv's would get a signal.
4. The new user interface for the DVR (recorded shows) is ugly.
5. The remote is also not user friendly.

On the flip side, I do like how you record series and I also like the skip forward / backward features.

To get dish to allow me out of my contract, I had to complain about the lack of information about recording more than 3 things at a time, that I was given incorrect information. They offered me another Hopper to get around the 3 tuners, but wanted $300 for it.

All in all, I am back with directv, enjoying a better picture and my new HR34.

 

[dare2be]

Just catching up...

And in this case, the ad has the disclaimer about the recording in the fine print with the ad. Of course, that print is unreadable and goes by too quickly, but that is true of nearly every ad done these days.

With an HD TV and a DVR, nothing is unreadable or goes by too quickly.

Is there really anybody out there who's been watching commercials or reading ads for the last decade or two who doesn't know what "up to" means? It can either be "some people get this all of the time" or "all people get this some of the time," but it never means "all people get this all of the time." Up to is a qualifier, and you don't include a qualifier if the statement can stand by itself all the time.

Yep, qualifiers are everything when it comes to advertising. I took an advertising class in college as an elective, and one of the things I remember about it is the qualifiers "better" and "best." To say you have the "best" product, is just saying that you are just as good as but not better than the competition. No one uses the "better" qualifier unless they are comparing to a previous version of their own product.

Don't get me started on what "Beechwood Aged" actually means.

Anyone ever get anywhere near the mileage advertised on the window sticker? I've never come close. As far as the tongue in cheek comments, I once had a lawyer tell me that having a law degree was like having a license to steal. I'm sure he was just being funny and not literally stealing from his clients. People just say stuff.

Leadfoot.

 

[dare2be]

My 2006 Chevy Equinox is right on, both city and highway. My 1982 Mazda RX7 actually did much better than it's highway rating.

My 1991 Toyota Celica beat the highway estimates by a mile, too. Pun unintended, but purposefully kept.