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Big Brother: Little Print*

big bro1 smallNothing is more popular these days with young people than “texting” — sending a text message via a cellphone. Capitalizing on this trend, most reality shows on television have built in this kind of interactivity into their programs. American Idol popularized “text voting” for your favorite singer,  and millions of people participated for free (except for whatever usual charge your cell company imposes for sending a text message — typically 10 cents).

Other reality shows have jumped on the bandwagon, but have turned texting into a money making machine for the networks and the program. Take CBS’ Big Brother, for example. The ad above has been running on each episode of the show over the past couple of months, inviting people to text the word “FAN” to 99888. Those who do are promised pictures of the cast, ringtones, and alerts about the show. Does being a “fan” cost anything?

*MOUSE PRINT: “$5.99 per month subscription fee billed through your wireless phone bill.”

There is no oral disclosure of the price during the commercial, and as you can see, even magnified, the mouse print price disclosure is almost unreadable. CBS does notify you when you make the call that there is a charge, but funny how clear disclosure is missing from the ad itself.

Had CBS been using a 900 number as the means of triggering this information service, federal law would have required oral price disclosure in the commercial. But, the 900 number rules were written before the advent of pay-per-call services triggered by text messaging, and thus CBS’ non-oral-disclosure falls through the cracks.

big bro2 smallIn addition to the “FAN” commercial, Big Brother also supers on the screen this other invitation to part with $5.99 a month, twice during each show. There is no price disclosure oral or written, but viewers are invited to go to the Internet “for terms.”

Though the net is widespread, not everyone has access to it, and while some people mulitask, most folks watching television are not sitting in front of their computers at the same time. Thus, disclosure of the price is again masked.

If the networks can’t make reasonable and clear disclosure of the price of text games and text services, the Federal Trade Commission needs to step in to update its pay per call rules to include this now pervasive form of advertising of pay services.

 

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Hellmann’s Mayo: Introduces the 30 oz. Quart*

hellmans smallSome things always come in quarts: milk, motor oil, and mayonnaise, for example. You don’t have to look at the net weight statement, because a quart is 32 ounces, and that is what you always get.

Next time you go to the supermarket and pick up a quart-size jar of Hellmann’s (in the east) and probably Best Foods (in the west), you are going to be in for a little surprise.

*MOUSE PRINT:  The net weight statement now reads “30 oz.” instead of 32.

While the size change is apparent looking at the old and new jars side by side, you don’t have that comparison in the store. You see a dozen identical jars that look like the regular quart jar, and priced like the regular quart jar. You grab one, and you get snookered because they all have two ounces less in them.

All mayonnaise has come in quart jars for decades. Unlike tuna fish that has been downsized multiple times, this is the first time it has happened to mayonnaise. That’s what makes it so surprising, and why it has gone virtually unnoticed.

Why did Unilever Bestfoods do this?  Here’s what customer service said:

“At Unilever Bestfoods we have always taken great pride in offering the highest quality products at reasonable and fair prices.

Recently, inflationary pressures have brought about by the increased costs of raw materials. Rather than raise our prices, we chose to slightly reduce the size of the 32 oz quart and 16 oz pint. This is the first time in over three years that we have had to increase costs to our consumers.”

As with other categories of items that have been downsized, it is a sneaky way to pass on a price increase. Expect competing brands to trim their jars sometime soon.  

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West Gate Bank 6 Month CD: Earn 10.38%*

west gate bank 10.38 smallWow. Where most accounts today earn only a few percentage points of interest, this bank is offering a rate from yesteryear: 10.38%.

Are you going to make a killing with this interest rate?  Don’t bank on it.

For one, you have to visit a particular branch of West Gate Bank in Lincoln, Nebraska.

What else?

*MOUSE PRINT: “Minimum and maximum amount of $500 only.”

So how much money are we talking about really earning here? Six months’ worth of interest on $500 is approximately $25.95 (maybe a bit less). At their regular rate of interest (4%), you would earn about $10. So despite the attention grabbing headline of 10.38% interest, this offer is worth less than $16 in extra earnings.

 

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