Ajani:the_lhc:Ajani:
the_lhc:Ajani:FrankHarveyHiFi:I see they're already slagging off the competitionwithout even an A/B demo.... It's interesting how much of that occurs in HiFi... I can name so many brands that claim to offer "the best products available at any price" and other such nonsense... Sometimes I wonder if delusions of grandeur are a prerequisite for building good gear....No, that's just marketing, you expect companies to talk up their own products, it's when they start slagging off everyone else's that it moves into dodgy territory. They wouldn't be allowed to in an advert (in the UK at least) but it appears nothing happens if they do it in a more informal setting.
I don't really see a meaningful differences between claiming my product is the best available versus directly saying that my competitor's products are inferior to mine...In the first instance all you're saying is "We're the best!", you're not actually mentioning anyone else's products at all, in the second instance, at least wrt what this thread is talking about you're actively naming other brands and putting them down. There's a big difference there. I might be more readily able to avoid lawsuits for one claim versus the other, but in spirit they amount to the same claim...No, they really don't, one is positive marketing of your own products, the other is distinctly negative discussion of someone else's products.Also, I've seen several brands that readily diss the competition (or at least the competition's technology - SS vs Tubes, Class A/B vs D, etc)... See there again, you can "diss" a particular technology, without actually attacking a rival manufacturer, technology is speaking in generalities, it's not the same as picking out a particular brand and claiming them to be rubbish.
So if a manufacturer of Class A/B amps claims that his amps are superior to Class D amps because Class D is rubbish, and it's only benefit is to save on electricity, that's just positive advertising?
Hmmm, no, that isn't actually what I said at all. I did say that pointing out the downsides of a generic type of technology (LCD vs Plasma for example) is not the same as picking out a particular manufacturer for criticism, I didn't say it was positive advertising. Positive advertising is simply saying "Hey buy our products, they're GREAT!!!", as opposed to having anything to say about any other manufacturer.
It's not that difficult a concept surely?
However, if that manufacturer was to say that X brand's products are rubbish because they use Class D tech, then that would be wrong?
Just saying that any competitor's product is rubbish is wrong, regardless of the reason. It's negative advertising yes, you're not saying anything good about your product, just saying that someone else's is bad, see, negative, positive.
I think we may just have to agree to disagree on this one...
Clearly, especially as you're not following my line of reasoning at all.
While in the first scenario, competitors are not specifically mentioned, it still amounts to the exact same claim: Class D amps are rubbish and by extension products from competitors (using Class D) are rubbish.. One is just more politically correct than the other...
No, because you could simply say you prefer to use a different type of amp, not because class D is rubbish but because you prefer the advantages of class A/B, it doesn't necessarily imply that every manufacturer that uses class D is rubbish. Besides, most people wouldn't know off the top of their heads which manufacturers are using class D, so they won't make the link. Either way you're still not picking a particular manufacturer and rubbishing their products, which is simply rude and in the UK at least, won't make you look very good in the eyes of the public (it doesn't seem to matter to the americans, from what I can tell).