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Rikard's avatar

1. Always market to women, no matter the product

2. Always have the product be "natural"

3. Always market the product as being from far away

4. Always market it as a "traditional something"

5. Always use legally vague enough language so as to not get sued

6. Always make using "it" effortless and non-committal

Follow the above and you can sell everything and anything, because sadly, the female brain is such that it will jump on anything that follows the above, be it ideas or gravel.

About ten or so years ago, there was a brief craze here in Sweden for a "special" kind of yoga-meditation-acupuncture-add on buzzwords mat. A piece of white plastic, about 60cm across, round in shape, with jagged plastic tags protruding about a cm on one side, in various patterns (floral, "spirit animal" et c).

In other words, it was exactly the same as the kind of mat you put out t wipe your shoes on, on the porch. Only, it was sold as a "traditional Asian acupuncture-meditation mat" and was claimed (not by the marketer, but by selected paid influencers) to "increase blood-flow and de-crease stress" after only 15 minutes of use. As in, lie down on it for 15 minutes and "you will experience and stimulating sensation of increased blood-flow through your upper body".

That it is because of hundreds of tiny pin-pricks making the nerves signal? Naaah! Must be Oriental Traditional Mystical, right?

After it was revealed the makers were two Swedish businessmen, it disappeared and not a single woman who had just days before swore how miraculous it was would admit to buying one. And then they leap onto the next idiocy.

I well remember frm the early 1980s, when Ladies' Magazines sold copper bracelets (a piece of copper pipe cut to a width of 1.5cm per bracelet, and the edges ground smooth, sold for 150:- each - quite the profit margin, probably in four digit-percentages) that were claimed could "attract toxins from the body". The proof that it worked was that it turned greenish, you see.

And the women bought it. As they do to this day, buying what is essentially a candle in cream form with added perfume - skin cream. Ask an actual skin doctor about how such stuff works, you'll hear some horror stories. My friend the molecular biologist turned veterinarian couldn't even pass a cosmetics dep. without starting to lecture, she was that angry at her fellow women's stupidity.

Then there was that time the wife and I did a minor survey on the potential market for "homeopathic gravel". . .

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Pirate Studebaker's avatar

I have a lot of snails where I live and I have noticed their slime and I see how it could be presented as a beauty potion.

The real trick like fashion of all kinds is to keep the consumer buying something (anything) new.

Spend dat mun-nee.

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