No, Bose only submits its products to publications whose expertise in sound is questionable at best, and lo and behold, what should the centerfold be but a gigantic Bose ad. Hmm...I wonder if there might be a conflict of interest here. :chinscratch:
It's marketing, pure and simple. Social psychology has given us many wonderful things over the past 50 years. Unfortunately, it has also taught unscrupulous marketing teams how to manipulate consumers. The golden rule of advertising and politics: say something enough times, and get enough people saying it, and most people believe it's true. Anyone who goes against the flow just ends up looking contrarian or uncool.
It's a proven formula for success: turn out a product, tell everybody how great it is and show attractive, happy people using it, and watch as its success becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Everybody wants the flashy new product, most can't tell the difference, but everybody wants to show their friends and onlookers that their gear pwns. A high MSRP actually contributes to the success because everybody knows about the product, everybody knows it's expensive, and everybody envies you a little bit for having said product. Plus, it even has a built-in fail safe: people tend to stand by their decisions, sometimes vehemently, when they've invested a lot in them, both financially and in terms of credibility. If you just blew $300 on a set of cans and some "expert" from Dead-Psy or whatever the heck it is tells you it's crap, are you going to want to believe them? Of course not.
The best we can do is make sure our friends and family don't fall for the marketing. And, if they're adamant, against inspired lunacy, what can you do?
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