bizarre infomercials

slipperybidness

slipperybidness

Audioholic Warlord
I know- we covered that in Physics (Boyle's Law), but they should really state whether it's Fahrenheit or Celcius. Part of my problem is that they called the temperature 'power'. These stupid ads also describe vacuum cleaner motors by saying "It has 6 Amps of power".
Oh yeah, mixing up your units is classic! Temperature is a measurement of kinetic energy, not power.

I have seen snake oil vendors do the same. It's the old adage, confuse them with BS.

And, agreed, you should ALWAYS state your units, and Americans have a habit of omitting the F units.
 
highfigh

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
Oh yeah, mixing up your units is classic!

I have seen snake oil vendors do the same. It's the old adage, confuse them with BS.

And, agreed, you should ALWAYS state your units, and Americans have a habit of omitting the F units.
You ought to see diagrams I make when I build things- I mix decimal and fraction a lot, but it's not some kind of Schitzophrenia, I just use decimals for easy ones, like the eights, quarters, half, etc.

I want to see a surge protector manufacturer rate something with "50 Billion Ergs", rather than "5000 Joules".
 
D

Dude#1279435

Audioholic Spartan
This is a must. Thought you'd seen it all? Na.:)
 
highfigh

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
Oh yeah, mixing up your units is classic! Temperature is a measurement of kinetic energy, not power.

I have seen snake oil vendors do the same. It's the old adage, confuse them with BS.

And, agreed, you should ALWAYS state your units, and Americans have a habit of omitting the F units.
I saw another ad for a steam cleaner- the guy said "...and 600 Watts of cleaning power".

I guess that sounds impressive to those who pay attention to numbers and pick things because "It's more".
 
S

steve64

Enthusiast
They're not really infomercials but those late night commercials that are about a minute long. I fell asleep and woke thinking: WTF, am I still dreaming?!
One of the all-time classics from about 25 years ago is using the spray paint to cover baldness. What if it rains? Maybe primer hahaha...
See Rudy Giuliani!! A true huckster!
 
davidscott

davidscott

Audioholic Spartan
They like to sell the idea that the clubs make the difference. I worked with someone who always had something for sale and access to some kind of deal. One day, at a manager's meeting, he said his golf clubs were available, so I asked about them. Told me they were Titelist, about what they can do and asked what I was using. I told him and he laughed. I asked about his handicap and he said it was over 20 and I said "Take a lesson- it's not the clubs". He seemed surprised and insulted by this advice.

I bought a Ping putter in the late-'70s and have putted well, not so well, terribly and am back to putting well again. I changed the grip to oversized and that may have helped, but not as much as ending my habit of standing over the putts for too long and taking time to second-guess myself. The only real change has been in me, not the club. If I do something wrong in my swing when I hit driver, it doesn't go well (unless by accident) and I can hit it dead straight, too. The club doesn't have moods. Same irons since 1982 and I still shoot 80-85 most of the time.
Wow having the same irons that long is impressive. I started playing in the late 60s and I have probably had a dozen set of irons since then. 80 85 is very respectable good sir. :)
 
davidscott

davidscott

Audioholic Spartan
I actually bought an Alien wedge after watching the infomercial. Okay out of the sand but worthless anywhere else for me.
 
highfigh

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
Wow having the same irons that long is impressive. I started playing in the late 60s and I have probably had a dozen set of irons since then. 80 85 is very respectable good sir. :)
I told a golf pro about my philosophy that it's the swing, not the clubs- he agreed.

I mentioned that I had putted well, badly, REALLY badly and came back to putting well but I didn't post just how badly. I once shot 85 with 46 putts, on a par 70 course. Couldn't reliably make an 18-incher to save my life, but on a par 3 with a wide. shallow green that sloped from back to front, I stuck my tee shot pin high, about 50 feet to the right. Nailed it. My ability to read putts has never left me- I read many long putts for others and they hit it where I told them as well as how hard and many of the putts went in, even with multiple breaks and with varying slope. My problem was that I would stand over the ball for too long and second guess myself, so I would make a slight change just before the head hit the ball. I stopped doing that and now, I often come in with less than 36 putts/round, sometimes in the upper 20s if I'm my short game is on.

Say what you want, but 46 putts in one round really sucks.
 
davidscott

davidscott

Audioholic Spartan
I told a golf pro about my philosophy that it's the swing, not the clubs- he agreed.

I mentioned that I had putted well, badly, REALLY badly and came back to putting well but I didn't post just how badly. I once shot 85 with 46 putts, on a par 70 course. Couldn't reliably make an 18-incher to save my life, but on a par 3 with a wide. shallow green that sloped from back to front, I stuck my tee shot pin high, about 50 feet to the right. Nailed it. My ability to read putts has never left me- I read many long putts for others and they hit it where I told them as well as how hard and many of the putts went in, even with multiple breaks and with varying slope. My problem was that I would stand over the ball for too long and second guess myself, so I would make a slight change just before the head hit the ball. I stopped doing that and now, I often come in with less than 36 putts/round, sometimes in the upper 20s if I'm my short game is on.

Say what you want, but 46 putts in one round really sucks.
Agreed. 46 putts does suck and there is no sugar coating that. Congrats on your improvement. I toowent through a period when a 2 footer was in no way a gimmie for me. Thankfully that did pass. :)
 
highfigh

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
Agreed. 46 putts does suck and there is no sugar coating that. Congrats on your improvement. I toowent through a period when a 2 footer was in no way a gimmie for me. Thankfully that did pass. :)
After I nailed that 50 footer during 'the round', I told my friend "I'm gonna make a putter, for market, with a convex face, no indicator mark, the shaft goes in on a weird angle and it will be called 'Nemesis'.

I had tried several fixes- when I saw Bernhard Langer using a cross-hand grip, I found that it helped. For a while. Then, I opened my stance, which worked. For a while. The 'claw' and oversized grips hadn't come around at that time, so I just suffered and justified my suckage by saying "Getting to the green isn't the problem". Same putter through the decades, too- one of the main reasons for my thinking that it's not the club because it wasn't a case of it reaching its teen years and becoming rebellious. I went to a local course to practice and when I had basically given up, I tossed my putter into the air and when I caught it, it was with a right-handed grip, so I found a place to putt where there was no break and had better success. If I can make a straight putt, the rest isn't a problem because I can still read putts as well as ever.

I know someone who has a stand in his basement with at least 50 different putters. Can't get arrested with any of them and I would think the pro at his club is very happy about it.
 
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davidscott

davidscott

Audioholic Spartan
After I nailed that 50 footer during 'the round', I told my friend "I'm gonna make a putter, for market, with a convex face, no indicator mark, the shaft goes in on a weird angle and it will be called 'Nemesis'.

I had tried several fixes- when I saw Bernhard Langer using a cross-hand grip, I found that it helped. For a while. Then, I opened my stance, which worked. For a while. The 'claw' and oversized grips hadn't come around at that time, so I just suffered and justified my suckage by saying "Getting to the green isn't the problem". Same putter through the decades, too- one of the main reasons for my thinking that it's not the club because it wasn't a case of it reaching its teen years and becoming rebellious. I went to a local course to practice and when I had basically given up, I tossed my putter into the air and when I caught it, it was with a right-handed grip, so I found a place to putt where there was no break and had better success. If I can make a straight putt, the rest isn't a problem because I can still read putts as well as ever.

I know someone who has a stand in his basement with at least 50 different putters. Can't get arrested with any of them and I would think the pro at his club is very happy about it.
Well I would classify him as more of a collector than a user. I mean how many rounds can he actually rotate 50 putters in a years worth of golf? That said I must confess that I have 6 and most of them don't ever make it to the course. :)
 
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