Direct response marketing can be very effective. Direct response marketing works particularly well if it promotes a product that will actually improve peoples’ daily lives. Many of the products promoted via direct response advertising actually eliminate the type of small nagging inconveniences that can ruin your day. I recently watched a Billy Mays infomercial. In this infomercial he was promoting the Samurai Shark knife sharpener. In the infomercial Mays demonstrated the frustration one feels when using a blunt knife to cut a ripe tomato. It made me wonder how honest direct response actually is. Does the Samurai Shark knife sharpener really make it easier to sharpen knife blades?
In the above YouTube clip a young man gives a frank review of the Samurai Shark knife sharpener. The young man demonstrates that the Samurai Shark is effective when it comes to sharpening ordinary knives. However, he shows that a person would need to have a rather steady hand and a good eye in order to use the Samurai Shark to sharpen a pair of scissors or a knife with a serrated edge. Is direct response marketing honest? Apparently it is, at least to some extent.