Amish Fireplace: Hoax or Marketing Genius?
December 23, 2008
One of the flyers that hit my mailbox yesterday contained a two-page ad that was designed like an article. Headline:
“Amish mantle and miracle invention help home heat bills hit rock bottom.”
The photo shows seven suspender- and hat-wearing Amish men and three women in a wooden dome-shaped warehouse or barn sanding, hammering, and polishing fireplaces. Three of the fireplaces sport glowing fires. Is this for real? Here’s the spectacular breakdown:
The Special Offer: Apparently, Heat Surge is giving away electric “Roll-and-Glow” fireplace heaters to everyone who purchases an authentic, Amish-made mantle. What?
The Reason to Act Now: The writer says I’d better hurry, because the offer is good for only 48 hours, and “Amish craftsman are straining to keep up with demand.” In fact, they are “working their fingers to the bone.”
Creating Need: As I’m reading this advertorial, I’m a little chilly. And I want one. I want an Amish-made portable mantle and Roll-and-Glow heater that looks like a fireplace. It will certainly beat the fireplace video I play on the TV each night, right?
Call to Action: The print ad pushes me to call, but I go to the Heat Surge Web site. Before anything, it asks for my “claim code” that will expire in 48 hours. How clever! Validation! Credibility! And how did it know when I’d see the ad?
The Upsell: The next Website page says that “most visitors are ordering two.” I look at the pictures of warm, glowing fireplaces. One, curiously, doesn’t have a wood mantle. But by now, I’m feeling bad for the Amish. What do they get?
The Execution: I haven’t seen such a persuasive (if a little creepy) print to Web marketing campaign in a while. It even includes a way to track which mailers worked the best, while making the reader feel exclusive and special. I’d love to know the agency who did this one.
The Result: No, I didn’t buy one. The tone of the marketing copy is too cheesy, too upbeat to feel real. I’m feeling “sold,” and I am left with visions of safety recalls and poor working conditions. Sure, this campaign was probably really successful. But seriously, do you want your company to come across this smarmy just to make a buck?
And I still keep thinking, What did the Amish get out of this? (If, indeed, there are any Amish mantle-makers.) But you can get one if you want. The site is www.amishfireplaces.com.
Entry Filed under: Web Marketing Tips. Tags: ad copy writing, advertorial, copy, marketing case study, marketing strategy, online marketing, print marketing, tone of voice.
1. chrispugh | December 23, 2008 at 9:44 am
We’re an established company with millions of satisfied customers and our focus is to exceed customer expectations.
To accomplish this, along with other successful methods, we’ve set up a Web site to share the facts about our company at http://heatsurge.wordpress.com to address any questions or concerns you may have.