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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTom Selleck hawking reverse mortgages on MSNBC (commercial)
I don't get it.
Why would anyone want to take advice on their home from Tom Selleck?
Is he some sort of financial expert?
He's never going to be in need of a reverse mortgage!
I get that he's paid to hawk these things, I just don't get why it's considered effective?
Ugh.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,947 posts)Also, they know how to read a script smoothly and professionally. They just do a better ad than some yokel from the marketing department.
Chainfire
(17,715 posts)I expect him to promote payday loans next....
jimfields33
(16,071 posts)Hes on the current hit blue bloods where Im sure he makes a fortune. Its not like hes some dried up actor. Im am grateful blue bloods was renewed again. Its a great show.
LiberalFighter
(51,263 posts)Aristus
(66,509 posts)The first time I saw the promo spots' breathless, orgasmic reverence for police officers, I knew it wasn't something I was going to watch, at least not without something handy to barf into...
jimfields33
(16,071 posts)I love the law and orders and the Chicago triplets too. But I totally get why its a turn off.
RhodeIslandOne
(5,042 posts)It feels like the type of show that wouldn't dare address police corruption, unlike Law and Order did.
jimfields33
(16,071 posts)Blue_true
(31,261 posts)I think that it is a pretty good show. The show profiles things that happen in society. It also profiles cop personalities, the hot headed detective Danny who has a brusque way to getting to justice and fairness, the educated, thoughtful beat cop Jamie, who is willing to see all sides of an issue. Maybe over factionalized, but a solid, watchable show, though not on the level that Law & Order is at.
edhopper
(33,651 posts)obviously isn't enough. So why RIP off some seniors.
mercuryblues
(14,552 posts)He plays the good guy on TV. A friendly, familiar face hawking something detrimental to seniors. They bite.
Thomas Hurt
(13,903 posts)it is just about them being famous and older.
kysrsoze
(6,025 posts)a kennedy
(29,753 posts)samsingh
(17,602 posts)GreatCaesarsGhost
(8,585 posts)WTF does that even mean in this context?
I change the channel.
a kennedy
(29,753 posts)isnt my first rodeo indeed.
PatSeg
(47,711 posts)That's how he starts off, as if he can relate to struggling seniors out there. I also don't get why anyone would fall for that. He's not the only very wealthy celebrity to do commercials for reverse mortgages, I guess someone must believe them.
Johnny2X2X
(19,253 posts)They only make sense for a very few retired people.
Your home is where most of your wealth can be, giving that up under less than favorable interest rates and returns is just a scam.
Response to Coventina (Original post)
kysrsoze This message was self-deleted by its author.
TeamPooka
(24,286 posts)brooklynite
(94,911 posts)Aristus
(66,509 posts)Banks that couldn't stand the idea of people owning their own homes and having inheritable wealth.
They dreamed up scams to convince homeowners to sell their homes back to the bank.
oasis
(49,454 posts)in a most reassuring tone. He uses that line twice in the ad, so he's gotta be telling the truth, right.
procon
(15,805 posts)It's the money. Look at these stars, they are older, their careers are winding down and they don't get a lot of offers for staring roles, so these commercials are money in the bank.
Big name companies are willing to shell out millions in exchange for a celeb endorsement to help boost their brand and increase profits. And it works... Consumer figure a wealthy movie star wouldn't be involved in anything shady and trust their personal endorsement is legit.
A "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star was paid $2 million for a single ad for Depend adult diapers. The fees run from $500K into the million$ just for sitting down and reading a few lines, and they may also get residuals, a payout every time their spot runs on TV.
Coventina
(27,223 posts)(Well, maybe a little bit, but sooner or later it catches up to you).
Tom Selleck needing a reverse mortgage? Not so much.
stopbush
(24,397 posts)Hes hawking a machine that cleans the tubing on CPAP machines. That machine - So Clean - costs $300 and is not covered by Medicare or most health insurance companies.
Sgent
(5,857 posts)there is no evidence it does anything beneficial.
ProfessorGAC
(65,337 posts)...are made of materials essentially impervious to both isopropanol and low concentration of chlorine bleach.
Those seems a way cheaper option than $300.
A pint of IPA would last months, a bottle of bleach 3 years!
stopbush
(24,397 posts)I have no idea whether that cleaning machine does what it claims. I still wash my tubing out with soap and water.
Sgent
(5,857 posts)there is no evidence that it does anything useful over soap and water. CPAP definitely does.
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)He doesnt need the money. Shatner, I think, Id worth several tens of millions of dollars, he was a spokesperson and early investor in the discount hotel room search service Hotels.com, I think that he invested in a second Dot.com that hit big, although which one slips my mind.
I think that for both, it is the glare of camera lights, morals be damned.
wryter2000
(46,125 posts)"This isn't my first rodeo." I always scream at the TV "You haven't had a mortgage since the 1960's."
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)If I'm not mistaken Fred Thompson used to do those reverse mortgage ads.
madamesilverspurs
(15,814 posts)Selleck is a hardcore Reagan worshipper. He would never consider questioning anything RR did.
Total turnoff.
.
Coventina
(27,223 posts)When I was in 8th grade, all the girls in my class were in love with him due to "Magnum, PI".
I thought he was gross. Nothing I've ever learned about him since has changed my mind one bit.
Aristus
(66,509 posts)Some production assistant went around to the female crew before Selleck arrived, telling them "Prepare yourself; he's very, very handsome."
I'm not sure why they needed some kind of warning, or if the assistant was one of Selleck's entourage massaging his ego...
Polybius
(15,518 posts)Although I must say, he looks great for 73 (or whatever age he is).
fescuerescue
(4,448 posts)To get you talking about it. To get you thinking about it.
Then, when you are of age, and perhaps needing money. Maybe today or 10 years from now, you'll think of this product and investigate it.
Advertisements are about owning just a little bit of their mindshare.
And this one in particular worked on you and everyone in this thread.
edhopper
(33,651 posts)with reverse mortgages.
And criticizing Selleck for it.
Not "talking about the product"
fescuerescue
(4,448 posts)Do you think that the entire population is as bright and aware as those in this thread?
Or do you think that the company making this commercials is just wasting money year after year after year making them, but someone manages to stay in business despite no customers?
See that's the thing. The makers of advertisements KNOW that many, if not most people reject the message. But if they can influence 1 in 10,000, then it's a roaring success. For this product, maybe 1 in 100,000
Do they know it annoys the other 99,999? Of course they do. Does your annoyance cost them anything? Nope.
edhopper
(33,651 posts)was working on people in this thread.
And this one in particular worked on you and everyone in this thread.
I pointed out that no, it wasn't.
We know why Selleck is a good spokesperson for them. We know how advertising works.
That is what we are criticizing.
fescuerescue
(4,448 posts)So yes it is working.
It's been proven that obnoxious, annoying ads have a larger impact on sales than soothing or funny ads.
Much of advertising is counter-intuitive.
In fact, it's said that advertising works best when you don't know it's working.
edhopper
(33,651 posts)no one on this thread is going to get a reverse mortgage or recommend one to anyone.
Your stance that we should never talk about deceptive advertising is ridiculous.
fescuerescue
(4,448 posts)Im not advocating that we never talk about advertising. I do it all the time. While I'm not in the business I do find it fascinating from a psych and business perspective.
I'm just pointing out that advertisers -LOVE- it when we do talk about their ads. They ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT and if an ad doesn't lead directly to a sale, the second best result is that we talk about their ad. Mind you they are spending millions to obtain those two results.
why? because we inform lots of other people who will nod their heads and agree with us. And then a non-zero number will go out and check it out and of those, some will actually buy the product.
Will that happen with the ~24 of us? Probably not. But when you add up the population in the US who are talking negatively about this particular mortgage product, the number of people who sign up will NOT be zero.
Believe me. The billions spent on advertising over the last 5 decades isn't just an experiment in ego. It earns even more billions.
edhopper
(33,651 posts)but that is more about annoying ads that people "hate".
This is about a normal ad for a destructive product.
And occasionally Mad Ave comes up with a campaign that people find so wrong that it hurts the product.
hunter
(38,340 posts)Our television plays DVDs and Netflix. That's pretty much all it does.
We don't suffer cable, satellite, or broadcast television.
Our adult children and their cousins don't pay any attention to "traditional" television. Those who have televisions 'cast stuff from their cell phones. They don't have antennas and they don't have cable or satellite television.
This probably explains all those senior citizen ads.
I thought Tom Selleck was an old guy when I was a kid. If Magnum P.I. was on and I was visiting my parents my mom would watch it and tell everyone to shut the fuck up because otherwise we'd fight.
I don't like Tom Selleck, not at all, but I do have fond memories of watching Magnum P.I. with my mom.
Little did my mom know I was living my own Magnum P.I. lifestyle then, a hell of a lot more exciting and dangerous. I have some wicked scars to show for it.
fescuerescue
(4,448 posts)That's why advertisers are switching to online ads.
It's why Facebook is "free" to use, but still manages to earn millions and make Mark Zuckerberg a billionaire.
btw, that's my perception as well. Tom Selleck is one of those guys that has "always" been old. I remember watching Magnum PI as a kid too.
Nature Man
(869 posts)precisely.
ironflange
(7,781 posts). . .if you really hate your kids.
Liberal In Texas
(13,608 posts)care facility. They'll sell it on the courthouse steps just to get back what they're owed and to hell with the rest of the equity you might have.
hunter
(38,340 posts)For now they seem to be enjoying themselves immensely. They've lived in many exotic places and are living in such a place now.
When I was growing up my parents were artists with day jobs. When they retired they became full time artists.
My dad has a pretty good union pension, my mom has her social security, and I want them to enjoy every last penny of it.
Me and my siblings could offer them better deals than a reverse mortgage but it seems unlikely it will ever come to that.
My wife's parents are similar.
Two of my grandparents died shortly after they retired. Their surviving spouses never really had any fun and left their self-sufficient children and grandchildren with money and property they didn't need.
One of my grandfathers loved Spain. After my grandmother died he should have moved there and enjoyed the final decades of his life with a hot mistress or two. He could have spent every last penny and family would have sent him more. Alas he didn't do that and died with an "estate."
jalan48
(13,907 posts)RhodeIslandOne
(5,042 posts)Maybe Alex Trebek too?
It's something they love to hook older folks on.
edhopper
(33,651 posts)Vinca
(50,323 posts)He's #1 and Joe Namath is #2. Every time I see Joe Namath hawking stuff I remember my grandmother's movie magazines where he was always featured with some starlet and always wore a giant fur coat. "Broadway Joe" - that's what they called him. The PCMatic guy band has moved off the list for the time being as long as they don't make any of those annoying ads.
Solomon
(12,321 posts)figure when he's so freaking ugly!
Happy Hoosier
(7,454 posts)... are an artifact of a completely failed retirement system. They exist because people dont have pensions and homes often represent the only accumulated wealth they have to spend.
Solomon
(12,321 posts)I find the ads even more sinister in this current covid climate.
Just imagine sucking up all those homes from people that get billed to pay for getting treated for the virus.
Nature Man
(869 posts)lots of people believe anything they see on tv.
Caliman73
(11,760 posts)There was a thread a little while back on John Wayne, USC was going to move a statue of him or something. He is an alumni of the school but totally racist. I posted about how Americans give celebrities a great deal of power in their opinions and tend to be more open to accepting what they say. That is why Selleck is advertising reverse mortgages. He was a star in the 80's which would put him in the range of my generation when we were children (now in our 40's and 50's) and our parents who are in their 70's and 80's. He would be familiar to them if they watched Magnum PI or Quigley Down Under.
His job is to get people in the door and let the sales people do their jobs. I agree that reverse mortgages are rife with scams and are not a good idea, but back to celebrity...
Hollywood, Broadway, and all the sports leagues are multi-billion dollar industries because people want to be entertained and want to follow "interesting lives". They had Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz advertising cigarettes in the 50's. Air Jordans are still popular today and Michael Jordan hasn't played the game in 20 years.
We need to stop equating people's talent in one area with the importance of their views in other areas.
WyattKansas
(1,648 posts)*IF* elderly people in the United States have problems meeting medical bills, living expenses, utility bills, other unexpected bills, etc. etc.
Then why is that and what has happened to put so many elderly Americans in such a dire situation? Why hasn't the U.S. Social Safety net kept up with demands on living in the United States? Why doesn't this country ever look at the source of the a problem instead of rigging a symptom fix to scheme more money off of people as part of a 'business' exploiting them?
The answer is much more simple than most Americans want to allow into their minds. Americans have been tricked into thinking capitalism is such a good pure thing, instead of understanding everything in the U.S. has been rigged to 'capture capital' from everywhere in society by Corporate America.
Doc_Technical
(3,528 posts)tandem5
(2,072 posts)It's a great series. You might find season 1, episode 5 to be particularly appropriate... although I don't recommend skipping ahead.
edhopper
(33,651 posts)Douglas really laid it out.
Beringia
(4,316 posts)I used to see him doing it on cable many years ago