

Parrot Secrets - robotrout
http://www.cringely.com/tag/parrot-secrets/

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ankhmoop
I'm weary of hearing how market success is demonstrative of genuine value.
Parrot Secrets may be a valuable resource -- we don't know -- but a snake oil
salesman can also be quite successful, and his success does not validate his
product.

This is where Cringely's article falls over. The Parrot Secret's book is
comprised entirely of information collated by a 'ghostwriter' from purchased
books. Is the information accurate? Are pet owners causing their pet's
unnecessary duress or training them poorly due to faulty information? The site
claims that the author is a 12 year parrot 'lover' -- as a potential
purchaser, you may use this information to determine the likely veracity the
information.

Unfortunately for the purchaser, "12 year parrot lover" is a lie.

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mustpax
So, by that token, would you consider the latest Microsoft ads scammy (maybe
even fraudulent)?

They feature Lauren, apparently a real person, looking for a laptop under
$1000. Turns out she is an actress, which would also affect the likely
veracity of the ad as well.
<http://blog.seattlepi.com/microsoft/archives/165113.asp>

Advertising, by its very definition, is _only_ meant to promote a product.
Just turn on your TV, you will see plenty of misleading advertising that's not
really illegal.

Would you be OK with Parrot Secrets if the owner paid for a real American girl
who owns a parrot to be a spokesperson? I just don't see the reason for the
outrage when an Indian guy is the marketer instead of a multibillion dollar
conglomerate.

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sofal
_Advertising, by its very definition, is only meant to promote a product. Just
turn on your TV, you will see plenty of misleading advertising that's not
really illegal._

Ignoring the fact that there are various degrees of misleading, from the mild
to the outright fraudulent, are you suggesting that people have no good reason
to be disgusted with it because a lot of companies do it?

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mustpax
Disgusted is too strong a word, but I think people should be bothered. I know
I am.

I was just trying to draw a parallel between false advertising on the internet
by individuals, and false advertising we see through mainstream channels every
day. I don't think we should give the latter a free pass because it's been
around longer.

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kqr2
Previously discussed:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=516215>

~~~
mkuhn
It's a different post...

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robotrout
This is a follow-up article on a previously discussed item. I posted it, as I
found the follow-up interesting, and thought others might also.

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cesqui
I thought this was about Parrot VM when I read the title.

~~~
SwellJoe
Me too, but then I saw Cringely, and I know he doesn't cover that sort of
tech.

