Offensive Newegg Ads

[BoredDragon]

lol I thought this thread was talking about their slogan. I try to be mature about things, but I can't help but laugh a little at the phrase "take it from a geek". How could that not be taken as an innuendo?

side note :

took me 4 tries with the captcha to get this freaking post up

 

[zelda2fanboy]

As I said, I'm sure they're a fine company, I just thought their current ad campaign is condescending, alienating, and a little douchey. I assure you, my feelings are not hurt (at least not as much as having to go back to my own personal hell tomorrow, wah, work sucks). Maybe "offensive" wasn't the word. Insulting, maybe? (I need to report newegg to the mods!)

So write them a letter or something.

I considered that, using this thread to help make my point, but I wouldn't want to hurt the escapist's relationship with a sponsor. You don't know if they'd be receptive to that sort of thing.

 

[Always_Remain]

It's an ad. Yeah it comes off as douchey but there are a small percent of ads that DON'T come off as douchey. At least it isn't offensively bad like certain ads and marketing campaigns a certain game company loves to produce so much.

 

[DarkRyter]

Their competitior is retail.

Retail is their ENEMY.

As thus, it would be odd of them not to insult retail.

 

[Steve the Pocket]

You know what? The commercial is kind of right. The sales clerks in a retail store aren't as reliable as people who have actually purchased the product and tried it out. It's just the way things are. The best they can do is look at the specs that are clearly printed there for anyone to see ? including the customer, who clearly wasn't able to make a decision based on just that. And that's just if the store doesn't train their staff to always hard-sell the more expensive item. At the very least, they're probably told to never claim one of two identically-priced items is "better", like the customer asked, because that implies that they have no real reason to be selling the other one.

Admittedly, I would have drawn the line at having the guy shrug cluelessly even after reading the specs, because that makes it sound like sales people don't even know what that stuff means. I suspect some knowledge of what technical terms mean would kind of be a requirement for that job.

 

[Ghengis John]

snip

So the ad hit it's mark? And this offends you? Why not try to prove the ad wrong? Because you can't be bothered to learn about every product in the store? Impractical you say? Well congratulations, you're the confused teenager from the advertisement.

I've routinely gone into the best buy and asked technical questions that nobody on the floor knew the answers to. Not even trying to stump them, just asking simple necessary things like "This power supply has no type listed, is it ATA or ATX?" And they look at me like I'm speaking an alien language. So they "fetch a geek" (which sounds like some kind of carnie side-show parlance) who understands me and the poor guy then tells me he has no idea himself, and if i open it I have to buy it.

Long story short. The ad is not far from the mark sometimes. I'm sorry you find that offensive. I hope you at least are honest with these people and tell them that's not your department so you have no idea and they should really ask the salesman. If you're polite about it most people will be cool about it.

Do you know what the geek in question told me by the way? And you should be able to laugh about this. He honestly told me to go to newegg.

 

[zelda2fanboy]

Their competitior is retail.

Retail is their ENEMY.

As thus, it would be odd of them not to insult retail.

No, newegg is retail. "retailer - A business which sells goods directly to the consumer (public)." I'm not criticizing that they are insulting a competitor. I'm criticizing that they are insulting me (a potential customer). They don't have to do what I tell them. I don't work for them. I really don't care.

 

[Lt. Vinciti]

Im offended by the fact they appear everywhere and cant be skipped....

I just hate them for being them....the one about a janitor kinda feels like me tho.... Where I have more knowledge about shit then the idiots that play predator on any fool in their area of the store....

 

[zelda2fanboy]

So the ad hit it's mark? And this offends you? Why not try to prove the ad wrong? Because you can't be bothered to learn about every product in the store? Impractical you say? Well congratulations, you're the confused teenager from the advertisement.

I've routinely gone into the best buy and asked technical questions that nobody on the floor knew the answers to. Not even trying to stump them, just asking simple necessary things like "This power supply has no type listed, is it ATA or ATX?" And they look at me like I'm speaking an alien language. So they "fetch a geek" (which sounds like some kind of carnie side-show parlance) who understands me and the poor guy then tells me he has no idea himself, and if i open it I have to buy it.

Long story short. The ad is not far from the mark sometimes. I'm sorry you find that offensive. I hope you at least are honest with these people and tell them that's not your department so you have no idea and they should really ask the salesman. If you're polite about it most people will be cool about it.

Do you know what the geek in question told me by the way? And you should be able to laugh about this. He honestly told me to go to newegg.

Seems like every thread I start becomes a contest to see who lacks the most empathy. All I see all day are dirty, blank cardboard boxes with a five digit number and a UPC code. Even if I knew what was what (which I don't), I couldn't be able to read the customers mind to know if they bought what they wanted to buy. And believe me after 3 years of this BS, I know more than most. Maybe Best Buy should make a commercial where a guy goes to their warehouses and starts quizzing their wage slaves on what kind of laptops they stock. Or maybe show how bored spoiled white guys amazon bomb products because they feel they were somehow "wronged" over day one DLC. Or maybe demonstrate the return process.

I just don't like how they hold up a type of person and say "Hey look at this! Isn't this kid an asshole?!" This puts yet another preconception in people's minds about me (I'm a college graduate, but people assume I'm a teenager), and it makes my job just that extra little bit more difficult. It's one thing to put down a competitor. It's another to put down a person.

 

[LaughingAtlas]

I took it as "That guy doesn't know everything about everything in the store, nor the fuck would I."
Looked like they were trying to say "Technology may have some details you won't know about until you've bought it, ask us about things and you may avoid buyer's remorse."

No more "offensive" than any other advertisement, I think.

EDIT: Worth noting that I am an absolute tard when it comes to commercials and can't usually remember what they were trying to sell and/or what is was supposed to be about the first time.

 

[sofareal]

It's really in what the kid said, (again) if the kid said (and I quote myself),"Ok, let us check the specs on the screens here, and compare between them", and this is were their point becomes mute. Besides, if the person is going to a retail store for a computer, they really don't care about "state-of-the-art" components, so the kid could have just talked out of his ass for about 2 minutes and the customer wouldn't have been the wiser (it's worked for me). I advise people to go to computer specialty stores in order to get competent laptops.
I work for the competitors and I'm not insulted, I am 90% that kid and I find it a little amusing

Sidenote: I'd ask that mop dude, "What the hell are you doing? Get, Go-on, Shoo, Get the hell out of my department!"

 

[Ghengis John]

It's one thing to put down a competitor. It's another to put down a person.

Sorry man. I feel for you, I do. But they don't care. Person? Competitor? It's all the same thing in business. You are an employee of the business they compete with, and in the information age it would be remiss of them not to point out a lack of information. For that matter if I go into the best buy and I don't have enough money for something I need they won't give it to me. Simple as that. They see me as a customer, not as a person. They view me by our potential business relationship. But you can still make the distinction for yourself. So why should you get all bent out of shape when they fail to give me good service and then send me to the very same competitor who calls them incompetent? It sounds to me like this anger is sprouting from your own insecurities. You don't like people to have the perception that you're uninformed. Yet you can't answer these customer's questions. What about their scenario is wrong? Maybe you do know a lot of things, but if you can't help me what use are they to me? You could know heart surgery for all I care, if I'm here to buy a printer however I need somebody on hand who knows about this printer. Do you seriously believe that makes you a dimwit? If the answer is no then make peace with yourself. It would certainly be a lot less obnoxious than shoving your diploma in everyone's face.

 

[bob1052]

Maybe Best Buy should make a commercial where a guy goes to their warehouses and starts quizzing their wage slaves on what kind of laptops they stock. Or maybe show how bored spoiled white guys amazon bomb products because they feel they were somehow "wronged" over day one DLC. Or maybe demonstrate the return process.

I just don't like how they hold up a type of person and say "Hey look at this! Isn't this kid an asshole?!" This puts yet another preconception in people's minds about me (I'm a college graduate, but people assume I'm a teenager), and it makes my job just that extra little bit more difficult. It's one thing to put down a competitor. It's another to put down a person.

But Newegg doesn't rely on their staff to communicate that information to the customer.

That is exactly the reason why they made that commercial. They aren't saying our staff is better than your staff, they are saying our place of business is better because it doesn't rely on staff at all for communicating information about the product.

Get over it, the ad is fine and is not offensive or insulting in any way. Do you also get sad at the sky when it rains because it must be a personal attack on you?

 

[TiefBlau]

What, a company insulting their competitors?

Stop the presses.

 

[zelda2fanboy]

Surprise, surprise. The ad works for condescending cynical people. I rest my case.

 

[bob1052]

Surprise, surprise. The ad works for condescending cynical people. I rest my case.

Everyone, including Newegg, is out to get you.

Lose the persecution complex and you won't feel bad about the ads.

 

[Bassman_2]

And many videos in the site require that you watch the ad beforehand. Or you could walk out of the room, but that's a lot of effort.