Oh Christ, "Free iPhone 4G" Offers

By  |  Thursday, May 6, 2010 at 10:32 pm

Back in February, I wrote about “Free iPad” offers. They dangled a product that wasn’t available yet to get people to sign up for a gaggle of marketing schemes. But at least the dangled product was real.

Tonight I ran across a similar ad for a “free” iPhone 4G:

The phone depicted looks suspiciously like the one Gizmodo snared. It has that handset’s front-facing camera, plus three features which Apple has already told us will be in iPhone OS 4: iBooks, multitasking, and improved e-mail.

I clicked on the ad, and was sent to ad with, um, more specs:

64GB? Sounds entirely logical, since new iPhones generally double the storage of previous models. 3.2MP camera? Sounds on the low side, given that the iPhone 3GS has a 3MP model–I was expecting something in the vicinity of 5MP. OLED screen? Doubtful, I think. Removable battery? Not unless Steve Jobs has stopped being Steve Jobs. Little “4G” next to the AT&T logo? That would indicate this phone will run on AT&T’s due-in-2011 4G network–and it’s just too early for that. The offer carries plenty of fine print, but none of it says “This product doesn’t exist, and probably never will.”

(Note, by the way, that the ad mentioned BrandNamePromotions.com but sent me to something called Prize-Wave.com. The company also seems to by the name of Tester-Rewards.com.)

I clicked enough further to peruse the first of thirteen offers you’ve got to complete to “qualify” for your “free” prize:

Can anyone explain to me why companies like Netflix and Disney don’t do everything in their power to prevent people from using their affiliate marketing programs for this kind of stuff?

 
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12 Comments For This Post

  1. Slipdisc Says:
    May 6th, 2010 at 10:56 pm

    It seems they are qualified for suck-ass status.

    And you know there is enough “suckers” to go for it to even make it worth their time.

  2. John Baxter Says:
    May 7th, 2010 at 6:36 am

    No amount of Green Tea will make me look like that!

  3. Rob Says:
    May 7th, 2010 at 7:07 am

    Was it really necessary to use “Oh Christ” in the title? A little sensitivity, please.

    That aside, I agree with Slipdisc about the suckers.

  4. Kevin Says:
    May 7th, 2010 at 7:20 am

    Wonder if the isp knows anything? Did a quick search of things, they are hosted on a service at http://www.dynamicdolphin.com/

  5. Benj Edwards Says:
    May 7th, 2010 at 11:52 am

    This title made me cringe when I read it. Seems out of character for Technologizer. Are you sure your evil twin didn’t post this for you, Harry?

  6. Harry McCracken Says:
    May 7th, 2010 at 11:56 am

    I certainly don’t intend to go out of my war to offend anybody or make anyone cringe. The headline (like just about everything else on Technologizer) was a sincere and uncensored reaction to the news at hand.

    –Harry

  7. Aaron Says:
    May 10th, 2010 at 8:13 am

    You ask why Netflix would be associated with this… Well I’ve been a customer of theirs for 3 years now, all because I signed up for an offer just like this. However, I got a free PS3 out of the deal, a product which actually existed. (Really, I did get a free PS3 from one of these banner ads.)

  8. eejit Says:
    May 17th, 2010 at 5:18 pm

    well mass media is the world we live in, theres and old saying people should heed… if it sounds too good to be true it probsbly is.

  9. Chris Says:
    June 2nd, 2010 at 10:42 am

    Hey Harry,

    I have to agree with a couple other of the posters…the use of “Christ” is just inappropriate and unnecessary. And I would think that both Christians and Jews would be taken aback by use of the word.

    In this era of sensitivity, we wouldn’t use any other religious term in the same way (Imagine: “Buddah,” “Allah,” “Our Mother”).

    And it does seem to be SO far out of the style of Technologizer.

    I’m not usually one to react, but this almost made me choose to stop following Technologizer…and I’ve been reading this blog for some time now. I’ve also been keeping an eye out to see if this sort of thing would be come a trend. It hasn’t.

    Now, as for the title…wouldn’t other options be just as powerful or more so?

    “You’ve got to be kidding me…Free iPhone 4G offers?!?”

  10. Harry McCracken Says:
    June 2nd, 2010 at 10:57 am

    Hi, Chris,

    Thanks for the thoughts. My goal certainly isn’t to go out of my way to offend anybody. But I also don’t think my goal should be to do everything in my power to avoid offending anyone–if I did, the site would be pretty boring.

    I hope that overall you find the site worth your time and will stick around.

    –Harry

  11. Chris sucks Says:
    June 4th, 2010 at 4:12 pm

    HAHAHAHA CHRIST Chris, get a little butt hurt?

  12. Kara Says:
    June 23rd, 2010 at 5:38 am

    good going on your stuff.