First iPhone buyer an ADVERTISING PLANT?

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Bung

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#147131 12-Jul-2008 14:00

robbyp:Pretty cheap advertising stunt, but if I was sitting in line I would have felt ripped off, especially if I was second in line. That a company such as the Canadian owned Yellow pages could rip off guenine NZers in the line, by claiming to be the first iphone buyer, when they apparently weren't a real customer at all.

If you were the second in line you should have got there earlier. If he was waiting outside he was a real customer.

It's when a store advertises a special and all of the available stock has been bought by the staff or other insiders that you are ripped off.

robbypreb

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#147155 12-Jul-2008 15:30

Bung:
robbyp:Pretty cheap advertising stunt, but if I was sitting in line I would have felt ripped off, especially if I was second in line. That a company such as the Canadian owned Yellow pages could rip off guenine NZers in the line, by claiming to be the first iphone buyer, when they apparently weren't a real customer at all.

If you were the second in line you should have got there earlier. If he was waiting outside he was a real customer.

It's when a store advertises a special and all of the available stock has been bought by the staff or other insiders that you are ripped off.

If he was paid to do it, he

definitely wasn't a real retail customer, and it definitely cheapens the whole '1st to get an iphone' thing. I mean if I was paid $100,000 (not that I know how much he was paid) by a company to sit in line for a week, in exchange for using me for advertising, I would do it, wouldn't you? Vodafone should have forbid companies to do that, although they also are only in it for the money.

The genuine buyer were those who waited in line at their own cost.

This yellowpagesmarketing ploy definately cheapened the whole thing. Marty was also discussed on Breakfast in Friday.

davide

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#147203 12-Jul-2008 18:17

robbypreb:Vodafone should have forbid companies to do that, although they also are only in it for the money.

How can Vodafone "forbid" a company to do that? I bet that as far as Vodafone is concerned, as long as a transaction is completed where the iPhone is exchanged for money of some sort, they are happy.

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Bung

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#147205 12-Jul-2008 18:29

robbypreb:This yellowpagesmarketing ploy definately cheapened the whole thing.

Cheapened in that Apple are probably pissed that he only had to wait 3 days and 3 nights to be 1st :D

ahmad

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#147206 12-Jul-2008 18:46

davide:
robbypreb:Vodafone should have forbid companies to do that, although they also are only in it for the money.

How can Vodafone "forbid" a company to do that? I bet that as far as Vodafone is concerned, as long as a transaction is completed where the iPhone is exchanged for money of some sort, they are happy.

They are very happy regardless of any circumstances.

In fact it would not be beneath Vodafone to have been involved in this from the outset given their past viral advertising attempts.

tonyhughes

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#147212 12-Jul-2008 19:11

Whats the fuss? If a company wants to pay someone to buy from another company, its still a legitimate business transaction.

Good on him, and his backers.

ahmad

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#147216 12-Jul-2008 19:39

tonyhughes: Whats the fuss? If a company wants to pay someone to buy from another company, its still a legitimate business transaction.

Good on him, and his backers.

Ironically the issue is similar that of the iPhone plan announcement by Vodafone - the deception.

His story all along had been that it was a dare from flatmates who would pay for the phone. If in fact this was a lie, that's my beef.

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robbypreb

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#147265 12-Jul-2008 22:32

ahmad:
tonyhughes: Whats the fuss? If a company wants to pay someone to buy from another company, its still a legitimate business transaction.

Good on him, and his backers.

Ironically the issue is similar that of the iPhone plan announcement by Vodafone - the deception.

His story all along had been that it was a dare from flatmates who would pay for the phone. If in fact this was a lie, that's my beef.

It is all about deception, and the amount of money vodafone can claw out of us NZers.

Remember vodafone isn't in NZ to make any friends, they are soley in NZ to make as much money as they can from us. They will even run at a loss to contract someone onto their services (AKA known as their 'free' broadband), then they raise the prices, because in their small print they can do it.

Vodafone has been critisied in this months consumer mag, about their very limited, 'unlimited' telephone call plans at http://www.consumer.org.nz/July%2008%20Watchdog.pdf , so you definately have to watch that company.

manhinli

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#147267 12-Jul-2008 22:39

robbypreb:
ahmad:
tonyhughes: Whats the fuss? If a company wants to pay someone to buy from another company, its still a legitimate business transaction.

Good on him, and his backers.

Ironically the issue is similar that of the iPhone plan announcement by Vodafone - the deception.

His story all along had been that it was a dare from flatmates who would pay for the phone. If in fact this was a lie, that's my beef.

It is all about deception, and the amount of money vodafone can claw out of us NZers.

Remember vodafone isn't in NZ to make any friends, they are soley in NZ to make as much money as they can from us. They will even run at a loss to contract someone onto their services (AKA known as their 'free' broadband), then they raise the prices, because in their small print they can do it.

Vodafone has been critisied in this months consumer mag, about their very limited, 'unlimited' telephone call plans at http://www.consumer.org.nz/July%2008%20Watchdog.pdf , so you definately have to watch that company.

"Unlimited" in the number of calls...

That isn't new - Telecom have Talk It Up, but they do say "for up to 2 hours per call" (they also have a maximum restriction of 6000 mins per month)

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robbypreb

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#147274 12-Jul-2008 22:52

manhinli:
robbypreb:
ahmad:
tonyhughes: Whats the fuss? If a company wants to pay someone to buy from another company, its still a legitimate business transaction.

Good on him, and his backers.

Ironically the issue is similar that of the iPhone plan announcement by Vodafone - the deception.

His story all along had been that it was a dare from flatmates who would pay for the phone. If in fact this was a lie, that's my beef.

It is all about deception, and the amount of money vodafone can claw out of us NZers.

Remember vodafone isn't in NZ to make any friends, they are soley in NZ to make as much money as they can from us. They will even run at a loss to contract someone onto their services (AKA known as their 'free' broadband), then they raise the prices, because in their small print they can do it.

Vodafone has been critisied in this months consumer mag, about their very limited, 'unlimited' telephone call plans at http://www.consumer.org.nz/July%2008%20Watchdog.pdf , so you definately have to watch that company.

"Unlimited" in the number of calls...

That isn't new - Telecom have Talk It Up, but they do say "for up to 2 hours per call" (they also have a maximum restriction of 6000 mins per month)

Telecommunications companies marketing is all about confusion and the fine print. It is a bit like telecoms 'Go Large plan that was advertised as unlimited, but wasn't really.

NonprayingMantis

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#147697 14-Jul-2008 11:25

Interesting, and not really surprising tbh.
Did anyone really think a student would have buddies that would buy him an iphone just for waiting for three days. I don't know any students with that much cash to burn on something for their mates.

I wonder if we’ll see the same backlash from bloggers with regards to this fake ‘real person’ as we saw with the new telecom adverts using fake ‘real people’

dolsen

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#147699 14-Jul-2008 11:41

Are we sure that he was the first? Wasn't there a couple of other places that were selling them at 12:01? did they hold back the people in Wellington and Christchurch from buying one until it was confirmed that it was sold in Auckland, or, is it quite possable he was the second or even the third person to buy one, the people in the other stores beating him to it?

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