The most frequent shoppers on Temu are over 59 years old.
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I would have enjoyed that. Such an odd business, though I did have a moment when I was about 13 and got convinced that we needed to get that "Swords of History" subscription bugging my poor mother until she gave me a lecture about advertising.
Apparently the quality of their products varied wildly. And in some ways they almost seem quaint and honest compared to Temu.
But, they did pave the way for the "business model"
I'm really susceptible to ads and so is my husband. I suspect this is true of many people but what makes us rare is we are willing to admit it? It's one of the things we bonded over.
Show me a shamwow commercial and I'm amazed. "Look at all the things it can do!" And just 19.99! (for three installments, plus shipping, terms and conditions may apply)
This is why I avoid ads whenever possible. They work. Even if you watch them thinking "this is trying to manipulate me"
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I'm really susceptible to ads and so is my husband. I suspect this is true of many people but what makes us rare is we are willing to admit it? It's one of the things we bonded over.
Show me a shamwow commercial and I'm amazed. "Look at all the things it can do!" And just 19.99! (for three installments, plus shipping, terms and conditions may apply)
This is why I avoid ads whenever possible. They work. Even if you watch them thinking "this is trying to manipulate me"
The human mind evolved to listen to and mostly trust other people. I don't really think the average person is set up or well placed to be the sophisticated research-driven type of person you'd need to be to be immersed in advertising all day without being influenced and at times tricked.
The simplest way to avoid being tricked or manipulated is to not see ads whenever possible.
... I still kind of want those "Swords of History" ... *eyes ebay furtively*
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I would have enjoyed that. Such an odd business, though I did have a moment when I was about 13 and got convinced that we needed to get that "Swords of History" subscription bugging my poor mother until she gave me a lecture about advertising.
Apparently the quality of their products varied wildly. And in some ways they almost seem quaint and honest compared to Temu.
But, they did pave the way for the "business model"
@futurebird Oh wow, that is amazing. A sword subscription! Imagine that in the middle ages. If I can dig up a photo I’ll post it. On a related note, did you ever see the ads for “mint” bags of coins that ran in local papers in the 90s/2000s? Intense elderly funds bait. But, the writing style of the ad copy was VERY reminiscent of the writing style of current political sales jobs. Gee-wiz and pushy at the same time. I will find one if I can, super-instructive.
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The human mind evolved to listen to and mostly trust other people. I don't really think the average person is set up or well placed to be the sophisticated research-driven type of person you'd need to be to be immersed in advertising all day without being influenced and at times tricked.
The simplest way to avoid being tricked or manipulated is to not see ads whenever possible.
... I still kind of want those "Swords of History" ... *eyes ebay furtively*
@futurebird LOL!
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I remember an episode of "hoarders" where most of what packed the house of a deceased elderly woman were products bought mail order from "dial 1800" commercials. Almost nothing was even opened... but even unopened and brand new all of the junk was still too worthless for the distressed children to even bother with selling. By the time the items arrived she often didn't remember what she ordered.
Their mother died in debt buried in worthless junk.
Call your mother. Call your uncle.
If you do want to make an intervention please work out what is actually going on. Hoarding and Compulsive Shopping are different and usually have different roots. I know several hoarders and none of them shop, in fact many are extremely thrifty.
Shoppers may not mind having a clear out but hoarders may literally _never_ forgive you. So please take care and get professional advice.
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@futurebird LOL!
I think they were 1/3 scale size swords, so kind of silly and pointless, but if you let them upsell you enough they'd send you a stand so you could mount them all on your wall and each one came with a little booklet about it's role in history.
Why do I remember all of this?
I should bring it up when I see my mom again just to see the face she makes LMAO.
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If you do want to make an intervention please work out what is actually going on. Hoarding and Compulsive Shopping are different and usually have different roots. I know several hoarders and none of them shop, in fact many are extremely thrifty.
Shoppers may not mind having a clear out but hoarders may literally _never_ forgive you. So please take care and get professional advice.
Excellent advice Tom.
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I would have enjoyed that. Such an odd business, though I did have a moment when I was about 13 and got convinced that we needed to get that "Swords of History" subscription bugging my poor mother until she gave me a lecture about advertising.
Apparently the quality of their products varied wildly. And in some ways they almost seem quaint and honest compared to Temu.
But, they did pave the way for the "business model"
@futurebird I found a good example of the scammy newspaper coin ads on Reddit. I would read these and marvel at the person who wrote the copy. Shameless, but they knew their marks and how to get under their skin. Join the coin bag Illuminati or you’re a fool. The guy in the ad is wearing a WWII veteran hat! We went from this to forwarded emails to social media and now LLMs. “Remember this, we cannot stop collectors from buying up all the unsearched bags of coins they can get in this special advertising announcement. And you better believe with each bag being loaded with nearly 3 pounds of Gov't issued coins we're guessing they're going to go quick," said Lynne.” The use of run-on sentences in these ads is fascinating.
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I remember an episode of "hoarders" where most of what packed the house of a deceased elderly woman were products bought mail order from "dial 1800" commercials. Almost nothing was even opened... but even unopened and brand new all of the junk was still too worthless for the distressed children to even bother with selling. By the time the items arrived she often didn't remember what she ordered.
Their mother died in debt buried in worthless junk.
Call your mother. Call your uncle.
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@futurebird
That's my dad, but with all the shit Alex Jones hocks. -
Have you made any positive progress? Their app, and I also didn't know this, is "gamified" it has timers that say "buy now or miss the deal" it has lootboxes and reward points. It slurps up your contact list from your phone and tries to rope in everyone you know like Farmville or one of those Maffia Boss facebook games.
Gambling addict treatment programs ask that their participants abstain from Temu because it's got gambling elements and can trigger people.
I feel very lucky that I have a friend who's into sustainable fashion, who made me think about the question, "What had to happen to get you that product at that price, or more to the point, whom did it have to happen to?" BEFORE the rise of Temu, so that I was preinoculated to see their whole approach as exploitive and offputting.
