The golfers in the infomercial ads?

[StefanUrkel]

Paid actors?  Placebo effect on shots?  Given a swing makeover before trying new club?  Clubs really add 50 yards or improve sand game 1000 percent?  Just liars?  Whats the story on them?

[MOODY]

Just outright lies probably and tricky video edits.  I have always wondered about that kind of stuff also.  Would like to see all of the video that was left out of how many swings to get those perfect few.

 

[dennyjones]

They are actors paid to do a job.  It is no different than selling shampoo.   

[iacas]

Not at all (always) true.

I know people who have been in multiple ads. I've met maybe twenty of them. I've been there when some have been filmed.

Often they're just golfers. For the 5SK DVDs, we gave them a brief intro, helped them with their golf swing in about 20 minutes, and filmed them.

Yes, the camera looks for the exaggerated, hyper happy, etc. type golfer. Some people give more authentic and more positive reviews, but are dull when they speak. Others can say "it was the best lesson I've had this year" excitedly, while finishing the sentence with "but you knew that because it's the only lesson I've had this year." So yes, there's some editing.

But generally speaking they're actual golfers. They sign a waiver. If they're actors I think it's required to say so at the bottom of the screen like you do with those drugs ads. They're not paid - they're often given a club or something that they demoed, but even then that's not always the case, as the products may not be in mass production yet.

[cutchemist42]

Those ads really make Golf Channel unwatchable at times.

[Patch]

Golf is a game of respect, truth, and charactor. The fact that greed is also part of game makes you do a double take sometimes. 

I decided a long time ago, not to believe most of these game improvement claims made by these companies.  

My guess is 75% or more of these claims are just money grabs. The bad part is that most of these money grabs are successful, due the marketing placebo effect. A lot of golfers' a very gullible, and will buy anything, in hopes of finding a better game. 

[JonMA1]

37 minutes ago, cutchemist42 said:

Those ads really make Golf Channel unwatchable at times.

No kidding. For me, that's true with all of television and mostly because of the repetition. Sports is about the only thing I watch on channels with commercials and I mute the volume. I know enough about football, baseball and golf that I don't need commentators telling me what's going on. So when commercials come on, it's easier to ignore them.

2 hours ago, dennyjones said:

They are actors paid to do a job.  It is no different than selling shampoo. 

Agreed. I don't fault anyone to get paid to sell a product - unless it's a potentially harmful one. Even then, as adults buyer beware.

The bigger question is... as a consumer, why would those type of ads have any effect on what we purchase? I mean, it helps knowing a new product is available, but c'mon. Who would buy a putter based on the fact that it's "just like the one Jason Day uses". Do people really watch slow motion videos of Stacy Lewis or Luke Donald and think "if only I had a Mizuno club in my hands, that could be me!"?

Kind of reminds me of this...

[dennyjones]

1 hour ago, JonMA1 said:

Who would buy a putter based on the fact that it's "just like the one Jason Day uses".

I play with a guy that tries to buy his game.   Last year he bought 4 drivers and 3 putters, one being a Scotty Cameron.   

[StefanUrkel]

4 hours ago, Patch said:

Golf is a game of respect, truth, and charactor. The fact that greed is also part of game makes you do a double take sometimes. 

I decided a long time ago, not to believe most of these game improvement claims made by these companies.  

My guess is 75% or more of these claims are just money grabs. The bad part is that most of these money grabs are successful, due the marketing placebo effect. A lot of golfers' a very gullible, and will buy anything, in hopes of finding a better game. 

We are all greedy. 

[dennyjones]

6 hours ago, iacas said:

If they're actors I think it's required to say so at the bottom of the screen like you do with those drugs ads

You only see that information on drug commercials.   You don't see it for most commercials.  

[iacas]

1 hour ago, dennyjones said:

You only see that information on drug commercials.   You don't see it for most commercials.  

As I said I’ve seen golf commercials filmed. They’re not actors.

[StefanUrkel]

I can't imagine people in real life really believe a club can add 50 yards. I understand a kid saying that but these are like 50 year olds

[jkelley9]

They may not be actors, but I would bet that those players do a ton of shots, all of which are filmed, and they use the BEST shots to show "just how great" the club/gizmo is.

That, or they take a bunch of people and only show 2. So sure, those guys that say "I picked up the club and it was instantly better than XYX!" was likely because they were having a good day. You guys know what I'm talking about: you've had a bad week of golf hooking everything off the planet, you're about to give up, then you go to the range and somehow you're puring everything!

The one I've been seeing a lot is the Square Strike wedge. Don't get me wrong, the club is probably fine or whatever, but I think it's comical how they show absolutely horrible golf swings where people are thinning and chunking standard wedges and then miraculously have 1000x better TECHNIQUE when they use the Square Strike... lol. Also, something I noticed, is they show a guy who's a "5 HC" put one really close to the hole from off the green. Notice that there's a TON of other balls on the green nowhere near the hole... whoops! I've also seen on other wedge commercials where there's like 20+ divots in the same spot and no balls on the green... but the one they filmed got up and close! Again, lol.

It's (nearly) all just a gimmick. 

Edited February 28, 2018 by jkelley9

[Piz]

They wouldn't be allowed to say it on T.V. if it weren't true would they?  I mean; a pack of Trident really does weigh more than a pack of Dentyne.  

[The Hook Meister]

Just because they are actors does not mean they don't play golf as well. S what if they edit the shot a little, people will believe what they want anyway.

[iacas]

3 minutes ago, The Hook Meister said:

Just because they are actors does not mean they don't play golf as well. S what if they edit the shot a little, people will believe what they want anyway.

They are almost never actors.

[cutchemist42]

https://mygolfspy.com/nfomercial-wedge-test-mygolfspy/

One of them is legit I guess?