Really!?!
This post written by Sean Conta, Founder & CXO
I was reminded of the popular Saturday Night Live Weekend Update segment “Really!?!” when I came across this page the other day.
I was setting up an online account for my pet insurance policy, when I was presented with this screen:
Really VPI!?! You know people don’t want info from your partnership companies so you switched the position of the choice required to decline this… Really!?!
This also makes an awkward double - negative phrasing that requires me to state “Yes, don’t send me information from VIP’s partnership companies.”
Really!?!
If you ever find something like this on MyPunchbowl, run, because we’ve been abducted by aliens.
February 11th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
Great post Sean. With this kind of evil positioning the company is basically tricking customers into clicking something they don’t want. I wonder how great their response rates are on something like this. Marketing isn’t about tricking your customers into digesting your spam, people!
February 19th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
First up…too funny. As much as Seth Myers annoyed me when he started Weekend Update, he seems to be coming into his own and has the appropriate reactions one would expect. Onto your situation…I’ve come to expect that from most companies now. I/we have been so well trained to pay attention to every little detail when doing things like that, that it is no longer a shock. It is like my 7 year old who is learning how to lie. We can see it a mile away and is no longer a surprise, but like your pet company does cause a “Ohhh, come on…again??” reaction.
Oh, and if you ever DO get abducted by aliens, please remind them that they still owe me for that incident in Tucson.