Do Superlatives work on you any more?

[Psion]

Does that negate the first 25 points of hype-related damage per ad?

Or does it require advertisers to make a DC 25 marketing level check in order to effectively advertize stuff to you?

Well, when I am affected, I am affected hard, so probably the latter.

 

[francisca]

Actually, what intrigues me nowadays, is the comparative. Any product that described itself as "pretty good" or "Not bad" I'm more likely to give a try out of curiosity.

Totally. If someone marketed something as, "Hey Mang, it's not complete crap!", I'd have a look, because that's the funny-Ha-Ha-smarty-parts schtick that I like.

 

[mythusmage]

If I marketed a game design as the best RPG I've ever published it would be true.

 

[hexgrid]

At this point telling me how your product is the single most important advancement in human history just makes me gag.

Are you tired of the obviously over-inflated blurbs they use to describe everything nowdays?

That's three superlatives in two sentences...

Vraille has succumbed to the very trend he rages against!

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

I don't go for hyped stuff. But then I'm not the target audience. There's always somebody out there who'll fall for it.

I ever get it done (procrastinator that I am) my book of kobolds would be advertised thusly.

Is there anyone out there who will fall for it? Or is it that people are so numbed to overblown language in advertising that they hardly notice an ad that doesn't bludgeon them about the head with how amazing the product is supposed to be? I suspect it's the latter. A kind of arms race between ad men who keep cranking up the volume on the ads past 11, while the public slowly goes deaf in response.

 

[jmucchiello]

Not really superlative but I like "greatness" advertising used in jest:

If you see only one movie this summer, see Star Wars. But if you see two movies, see Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.

That is a great way to get people to listen to your superlatives (or in penultimateness in this case).

 

[DamionW]

The one that gets me as that I'm in the military and at the food courts in the on-base malls they have Anthony's Pizza "World's Greatest Pizza." The stuff is garbage and I wonder, who the f*ck do they think they're kidding? How do you have the right to even display that on your sign when you know good and well there are fifty different restaurants that make a higher quality product? No advertising should be allowed to use world's greatest or best, or even nation's greatest or best unless they've beat all competition in a product test across that area. Otherwise it's almost insulting to the consumer.

 

[Doug McCrae]

Companies sell splat books for lazy DM's and gamers. Nothing more.

Yeah. And cars are produced for people too lazy to walk.

 

[Teflon Billy]

Hey, now, Truman show is cool!

Best movie of all time?

 

[Paradigm]

Superlatives are needed to increase the sales of a title, if there wasn't market data to support the use of superlatives, it wouldn't still be there. Now that doesn't mean that one should claim to be "the Greatest" but words like: Detailed, Comprehensive, In-depth, let people know that at least you claim to have paid attention to it.