5 ms·

Welcome to the USA, where marketing lies are everywhere and product owner writing quoted below sentences does not find anything wrong with it. Quoting the page

by rdslw 10y ago

Welcome to the USA, where marketing lies are everywhere and product owner writing quoted below sentences does not find anything wrong with it. Quoting the page: "Always Free Usage Limits. Included products and usage limits are subject to change." Why they don't write a truth: "Current Free Usage Limits, which are subject to change." ? This used to be fine print (which is still wrong). These days I call it bullshit print.

dewey 10y ago
That doesn't seem to be US specific...
- adventured 10y ago
  It's not, the parent could have made the same point without focusing it on the US at all. It's a rather mediocre and cheap excuse to bash the US. You can use the US for nearly any topic of punching, due to its size culturally and economically, its superpower status, omnipresence, etc. and people will overwhelmingly look the other way and or join in (any excuse to get that outrage hit).
- jpttsn 10y ago
  An interesting twist in the evolving hivemind. Westerners generations ago assumed the rest of the world were savage. Today's westerners assume that they are the savages, and that the rest of the world is enlightened, free from self-interest, kumbaya all the way. Lest we learn about the wider world, I guess.
  - wingerlang 10y ago
    > Today's westerners assume that they are the savages, and that the rest of the world is enlightened, free from self-interest, kumbaya all the way. That's a very broad statement which I think is not even remotely true.
    - jpttsn 10y ago
      I agree. It relied on context. Mea culpa.
    - saint_fiasco 10y ago
      It's pretty common. I know people from many Western countries who say "this sort of bullshit only happens in my country, I'm so ashamed" when they are in fact talking about near-universal human problems. Then again, all my friends are Westerners, so it could be that they do this sort of thing in the East too.
  - lallysingh 10y ago
    So they think the grass is greener elsewhere? That sounds like a pretty normal (irrational, but understandable for humans) belief to have after removing a we're-the-only-civiized-ones belief.
- eeZah7Ux 10y ago
  "Unlimited All-you-can eat fiber" used to describe a capped ADSL. This happens in UK as well but it would be quite illegal in various European countries. People seem to be blaming the US because the US is leading the way with false advertising.
taneq 10y ago
Also, some kids actually don't love the taste of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. A scandal, I say!
- mirekrusin 10y ago
  It is scandal, I say. I'd like to see ads with pixelated/beeped lies - it would be like watching retro game and listening to moorse code. The best ad I've seen so far was an cut out of old Indian newspaper advertising genital cream with magical radioactive ingredients that are 100% safe and work wonders, signed by doctors.
  - ruleabidinguser 10y ago
    A lot of things you might call lies are not really lies.
konschubert 10y ago
"Always" refers to the fact that there is no contractual end to the trial period. The fact that Google might terminate the contract is another story. Now, if Google could change the price without giving you the option to cancel, that would be a scandal. But I don't think that's the case.
Cthulhu_ 10y ago
It's probably a confusing product name, where "Always Free" is the product name. Something like "Never Smell" for deodorants. Is there an advertising code of sorts in the US? I know in my country, if an advertisement or product name is misleading (e.g. dark marketing patterns or whatever) the company doing it can get fined.
tomschlick 10y ago
Only a Sith deals in absolutes.
simonh 10y ago
On the other hand I find myopic literalism a far more annoying waste of time and energy. The way I see it if Google intends the service to be always free, that's enough for me. After all, I don't think any rational observer would expect 'always' to include e.g. Google going out of business, all their data centers being blown up by terrorists, etc so to me it seems pretty obvious that it's contingent on all sorts of conditions that can change in the future, some of which might be at Google's discretion and others not.
StevePerkins 10y ago
Whenever I see these "Amerikkka is awful!!!11" style comments, I always wonder if it's someone from Europe or elsewhere with a genuine insight that's worth considering... or just an immature kid from Minnesota suburbs being "edgy". As someone who's reasonably well-traveled, I've hardly found shifty marketing language to be unique to any particular locale. And I'm not even sure that THIS marketing language is all that shifty. You want an iron-clad assurance that NOTHING will change between now and the next 100 years? The Sun going supernova? Heat death of the universe? I'm pretty sure that reasonable people understand that "always" or "forever" mean, "Open-ended and not subject to change without adequate notice".

by rdslw 10y ago

dewey 10y ago

That doesn't seem to be US specific...

adventured 10y ago
It's not, the parent could have made the same point without focusing it on the US at all. It's a rather mediocre and cheap excuse to bash the US. You can use the US for nearly any topic of punching, due to its size culturally and economically, its superpower status, omnipresence, etc. and people will overwhelmingly look the other way and or join in (any excuse to get that outrage hit).
jpttsn 10y ago
An interesting twist in the evolving hivemind. Westerners generations ago assumed the rest of the world were savage. Today's westerners assume that they are the savages, and that the rest of the world is enlightened, free from self-interest, kumbaya all the way. Lest we learn about the wider world, I guess.
- wingerlang 10y ago
  > Today's westerners assume that they are the savages, and that the rest of the world is enlightened, free from self-interest, kumbaya all the way. That's a very broad statement which I think is not even remotely true.
  - jpttsn 10y ago
    I agree. It relied on context. Mea culpa.
  - saint_fiasco 10y ago
    It's pretty common. I know people from many Western countries who say "this sort of bullshit only happens in my country, I'm so ashamed" when they are in fact talking about near-universal human problems. Then again, all my friends are Westerners, so it could be that they do this sort of thing in the East too.
- lallysingh 10y ago
  So they think the grass is greener elsewhere? That sounds like a pretty normal (irrational, but understandable for humans) belief to have after removing a we're-the-only-civiized-ones belief.
eeZah7Ux 10y ago
"Unlimited All-you-can eat fiber" used to describe a capped ADSL. This happens in UK as well but it would be quite illegal in various European countries. People seem to be blaming the US because the US is leading the way with false advertising.

taneq 10y ago

Also, some kids actually don't love the taste of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. A scandal, I say!

mirekrusin 10y ago
It is scandal, I say. I'd like to see ads with pixelated/beeped lies - it would be like watching retro game and listening to moorse code. The best ad I've seen so far was an cut out of old Indian newspaper advertising genital cream with magical radioactive ingredients that are 100% safe and work wonders, signed by doctors.
- ruleabidinguser 10y ago
  A lot of things you might call lies are not really lies.

konschubert 10y ago

"Always" refers to the fact that there is no contractual end to the trial period. The fact that Google might terminate the contract is another story. Now, if Google could change the price without giving you the option to cancel, that would be a scandal. But I don't think that's the case.

Cthulhu_ 10y ago

It's probably a confusing product name, where "Always Free" is the product name. Something like "Never Smell" for deodorants. Is there an advertising code of sorts in the US? I know in my country, if an advertisement or product name is misleading (e.g. dark marketing patterns or whatever) the company doing it can get fined.

tomschlick 10y ago

Only a Sith deals in absolutes.

simonh 10y ago

On the other hand I find myopic literalism a far more annoying waste of time and energy. The way I see it if Google intends the service to be always free, that's enough for me. After all, I don't think any rational observer would expect 'always' to include e.g. Google going out of business, all their data centers being blown up by terrorists, etc so to me it seems pretty obvious that it's contingent on all sorts of conditions that can change in the future, some of which might be at Google's discretion and others not.

StevePerkins 10y ago

Whenever I see these "Amerikkka is awful!!!11" style comments, I always wonder if it's someone from Europe or elsewhere with a genuine insight that's worth considering... or just an immature kid from Minnesota suburbs being "edgy". As someone who's reasonably well-traveled, I've hardly found shifty marketing language to be unique to any particular locale. And I'm not even sure that THIS marketing language is all that shifty. You want an iron-clad assurance that NOTHING will change between now and the next 100 years? The Sun going supernova? Heat death of the universe? I'm pretty sure that reasonable people understand that "always" or "forever" mean, "Open-ended and not subject to change without adequate notice".