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"Handling" is a transparent attempt to "build value" into the customer's perception. Do the advertisers really believe that we are so dull as to not see this?
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I fear the answer is “yes,” just as I am confident enough people fall for it to make the hustle work. The hucksters wouldn’t keep doing it if it didn’t.
But yeah, it annoys me, too. Dishonesty is at the heart of it. While I’m not the one being duped, I still hate seeing the practice get rewarded.
EDIT: “Buckle up. We’re giving away FREE belts.”
That’s the headline on a Facebook ad for Tecovas, the Western boot company. But they aren’t giving away anything. You gotta buy the boots (a few hundred bucks) and they throw in the belt at no additional charge. Which is cool, I suppose, to have a new belt to match your new pair of s*** kickers, but it isn’t in any way FREE, in all caps or otherwise.
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