Now, having been pitched by just about every infomercial company out there, I was leery, but curious at the same time. So, I returned their call and asked if they were trying to sell me an infomercial (typical costs range $25-70,000), advertising or banner space. The appointment setter assured me that they were not an infomercial house and that they were not trying to sell me anything, they simply wanted to speak with me to see if Action Wipes would make for a good story line. So we proceeded to arrange a conference call with one of the shows producers.
The call with the producer lasted 40 minutes today. In that time, we spoke about the history of Action Wipes, why they were perfect for women on the go, how we've been using social media (Twitter specifically) to get the word out, how the show could give us exposure and more. She was enthused and advised that the product would fit really well, however...
- Being on the show was by invitation only.
- Though she was an executive producer, she still had to go through an internal approval process.
- If approved, they would then create a 3-5 minute editorial piece.
- I would then be considered a content partner and thus I had to ensure them I would contribute to script.
- The script would be written with an educational tone, as this was NOT an infomercial, NOR a commercial.
- "If" they decided to promote me, their PR team would begin writing press releases immediately, I would get exposure via their half million daily viewers and 800 thousand email subscribers and, through their magazine partner, Women's Day.
As she walked me through each of these steps I could hear the excitement in her voice rise. I just listened silently simply saying "ok" after each sentence and thinking "here it comes"...
And, here it is... "All" that is expected from me is to work with the PR team, cross promote through our mutual websites and pay a "scheduling" fee of $39,700.00.
So while they did not "lie" when they advised they were not selling me an infomercial, they did deceive me. Deception is as bad as a lie, it's dishonest and it sucks. Big time.If you want truthful, honest reviews on Action Wipes, just go to the following blogs. We did not pay for their view... with some however, we did send them the product to test, but with a note that stated "Please, be honest. Good or otherwise, we want to hear your feedback". Others purchased the product from our website and posted a review. So here they are - good and otherwise :)
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