Over Zealous Advertising

Have you seen the television ad for the fabric sheet bar you stick in your machine? Apparently it changed the life of the lady in the ad! Apparently adding a fabric sheet was costing her time, effort and stress! Cleaning products and home products seem to get the most over the top advertising, with women dancing joyously, unable to contain themselves once they were given the wonder of this new product!

Horse advertising is not immune to the over the top verbiage. Amanda, who is apparently addicted to horse advertisement reading, pointed out a recent Kijiji ad for a :"Once in a Lifetime horse!". To me a once in a lifetime horse is a Big Ben, or a Monopoly. Maybe even a Pax (now deceased Palomino lesson horse at Whitemud that was the best horse EVER!) or a Rocket...one of a kind as they are so great to learn on.

What this ad showed, was a barely started 9 year old mare. They didn't list any outstanding or rare bloodlines, any show record, nor any unique traits. The photos were poor quality and didn't show anything special in either build or colour. The ad did say she has "strait" legs. She may indeed be a very nice mare, and worth the amount they are asking, but the ad does nothing to show what makes her so special. Is the hope that the viewer of the ad won't go beyond the heading?

Amanda missed another ad though; this one starts with "The Sporthorse that will take you to Nationals!" How? Can he drive? No mention on breed or height...no pictures to show anything other than a big headed fluffy paint...but he is a dressage super star because he trots pretty in the field! Maybe he is a good horse, but again, the ad gives no evidence that the horse is anything more than a flashy coloured paint. Not even so much as a conformation shot to back up their claim as to his future stardom.

There is also a Horsetopia ad, for an FEI dressage Prospect. ALL horses are "prospects" I suppose, so they aren't lying, but if you watch the video, you will see a slightly above average TB gelding. Not a bad horse, but nothing to say "wow, that is a fancy dressage horse", so after the heading the horse comes as a dissappointment...when he is actually a decent looking horse...just not something that screams FEI dressage to me.

Do these types of ads actually work?

Maybe I need to work on my verbiage for the horses we have for sale...

From now on, they are all Olympic contenders!

Karen