Tuesday, August 14, 2012

PC Matic brings us Deja Vu, all over again





Ok, I'm totally mystified here.  Someone please help me out.

Here are two almost identical commercials for a product I have snarked on previously- "PCMatic," one of dozens of BS virus protection "services" you can download straight to your computer, allegedly ridding it of the evil stuff lurking in the background slowing down your ability to stream porn (errrr, I mean, do research and run your home-based business.)  Of course, PCMatic does nothing of the kind- rather, like FinallyFast, MyCleanPC, and DoubleMySpeed, it just scares you into thinking your laptop is roughly 30 seconds away from exploding in your face so Get Your Credit Card Out Now And Download Our Crap.  And what you actually download is another set of viruses.

So if you order one of these products, you are actually paying for viruses.  But  I've said all this already.  Let's get to the point of this particular post.

As you can see if you actually watch both ads, the script is exactly the same- the ONLY difference is the sport being watched by Dad and Daughter on the TV.  And that's actually a real problem- the girl is clearly a college kid, wearing a hoodie with the words STATE rather obviously emblazoned across the front.  So the ad in which she's watching football makes sense- ok, she's cheering on her alma mater, good for her.

The ad in which she's watching baseball?  Not so much.  I mean, sure, maybe she's watching her college baseball team, which happens to be on tv, on a summer day cool enough to wear a big sweater....but I'm not buying it.

And let's say it's perfectly plausible that in one ad, these people are watching football, and in the next, they are watching baseball.  Fine.  Doesn't that mean that in a very short time, Daughter is Once Again experiencing annoyingly slow internet speeds and viruses, DESPITE the fact that she took Dad's advice that time when they were watching the game together and downloaded PCMatic?  Isn't this a good time for Daughter to stop humoring Dad's odd obsession with PCMatic and explain to him that she's the same person who took his advice last time, and look where she and her computer ended up?

Oh and BTW, notice how there is NO mention of cost in EITHER ad, or even the slightest hint that someone's credit card number has been handed over to the sponsor?   Both ads (which, again, are the SAME FREAKING AD) play out as if this is a free service (it's not.) 

Hey, maybe State's swim team will be on tv in next week's ad.  Here's some advice, Daughter- ignore your dad, go to the store, and get yourself some real anti-virus protection.  Because this- this is getting really, really old. 

2 comments:

  1. My view is that most people, by and large, should know enough about computers to deal with certain things, like basic viruses and clean-up. Computers being new and strange is no longer an excuse. We've had PCs for a full human generation now. Dealing with clean-up and viruses that can be tackled with Anti-Malware should be as routine knowledge as knowing how to change the oil in your car or change a tire.

    Granted, some issues will be beyond the some-what-computer savvy to fix, but a basic level of computer education would keep people from being suckered by panic-inducing scams like this.

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    1. That would be a good thing. Not only would there be fewer ads like this, we'd have the fun of seeing what kind of nonsense Symantec would green-light for its ad campaigns.

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