High Profit Margins Fuel Rapid Spread Of Mind-Numbing Infomercials

The Consumer Federation of America has offered a rebuttal of sorts to a recent column that decried the apparent popularity and obvious success of infomercials.

On one hand, the federation seemed to defend these advertising atrocities as a cost effective and profitable way to peddle goods and services.

On the other hand, the consumer lobby group offered to help redress the spread of “consumer illiteracy.”

My earlier column, writes Stephen Brobech, federation executive director, “suggests that the proliferation of infomercials reflects the decline of consumer intelligence.”

Yeah, that’s close.

What I actually wrote was, “The whole infomercial concept is an insult to intelligence. The format is patently deceptive and misleading. The script is unimaginative. Boring. Totally asinine.

“And the acting is one step down from TV wrestling.”

But why quibble?

Well, says consumer advocate Brobech, “regardless of what’s happening to intelligence,” there are other factors at work.

“In brief,” says the Washington, D.C., lobbyist, “network and cable broadcasters have discovered that infomercials can be far more profitable than regular programming.

“They have learned that they can make more money by selling an entire time period to an infomercial, avoiding their own programming expenses, rather than selling only a fraction of this time slot to advertisers. Even though ratings for the infomercials are far lower than for regular programming.”

In the earlier column, I also deplored the emergence of infomercials as “mainstream marketing tools” because of what this says about the dumbing down of America. And I passed along a squib from the Los Angeles Times that quoted Brobech as stating that, in fact, consumers are getting smarter.

How can this be?

“I do not recall telling the L.A. Times,” says Brobech, “that ‘Americans are far more sophisticated shoppers today than they were 20 years ago.’ But I did emphasize that consumers have become more aware of marketplace realities, and more demanding of sellers.”

Well, I still don’t buy it.

And it seems the consumer advocate isn’t too sure of himself either. “I would not, however,” he adds in the next sentence, “characterize most consumers today as sophisticated shoppers.”

Huh?

“A report that we issued several years ago,” said the chief of staff of the consumer lobby, “suggest that they are not.”

Now I hear you.

Indeed, a news release on the 1990 study by Consumer Federation of America says flat out that a nationwide test of consumers found their “knowledge is inadequate.”

In the prepared statement, Brobech reports, “Special efforts must be made to remedy particularly glaring deficiencies among the young, the poor, the least welleducated, and minorities.”

Taking that a step further, his response to my column included a pamphlet just released by his and other consumer organizations that he said “assumes many consumers could spend far less on products they purchase.”

The pamphlet is the heart of a campaign by an ad hoc Consumer Literacy Consortium to save consumers more than $100 billion a year, or upwards of $1,000 on average per household.

Here’s how:

Car repairs - Find an honest, skilled mechanic. “No consumer can adequately protect him/herself against one who is not.”

Auto insurance - Before comparison shopping, call the state insurance department for a publications showing typical prices charged by different insurers.

Life insurance - Don’t purchase a whole life, universal life or other cash-value policy unless the plan is to hold it for at least 15 years.

Electricity - In any purchase of appliances, especially air conditioners and furnaces, make sure the units are energy efficient.

Food market purchases - Compare price-per-ounce or other unit costs on shelf labels, then stock up on those items with low per-unit costs.

Prescription drugs - Ask the physician and pharmacist for inexpensive generic equivalents of more costly brand-name drugs. Call several drug stores for prices. If taking a particular drug over a long period of time, consider calling mail-order pharmacies for lower prices.

, DataTimes MEMO: Associate Editor Frank Bartel’s column appears on Monday, Wednesday and Sunday.