Why did the once popular breast enhancement advertisement disappear overnight?

Watching TV is no longer a lifestyle habit for modern people, but when they are bored, they will lie on the sofa and pick up the remote control to relieve their boredom.

As long as you browse channels aimlessly, you will inevitably come across such programs:

TV shopping is like psoriasis on TV, it can never be completely removed.

The hosts of the shopping channel were all eloquent and spoke eloquently, praising each product to the skies, making people want to call and place an order right away.

The TV shopping business is so hot, no wonder you can still see books like this on the market -

TV shopping has been popular on TV channels for decades, but do you remember that TV shopping was quite different a dozen years ago?

Eight Hearts and Eight Arrows and Drinking Tea from a Small Can are child's play. Only this one makes people reluctant to change the channel.

At its peak, TV shopping ads claiming breast enhancement functions took up a large amount of limited channel resources. If you go around dozens of channels, you can always find "upright" women who have regained their confidence - except for prime time.

However, as if overnight, these advertisements suddenly disappeared from the television, leaving no trace.

Its rise was rapid, and its fall was sudden. Breast enhancement advertisements rose to fame with their exaggerated propaganda, but collapsed due to their bizarre techniques. Looking back on them today, they are still an interesting topic of conversation.

The rise of TV shopping

Television shopping is not new. As early as 1982, savvy Americans began selling goods on television stations in Florida. Ten years later, as a window of reform and opening up, Guangdong Province took the lead in introducing this novel sales model.

There is no need to put the goods on the road, the goods can be sold out quickly through radio waves. How could the Chinese people, who had just opened their doors to the world, resist this advanced way of playing capitalism? TV shopping quickly became one of the most profitable industries at the time.

Even today, TV shopping still maintains an astonishing gross profit margin of 30%, which is twice that of traditional department stores and ordinary online shopping (such as JD.com) .

When television shopping first entered the country, it basically became a channel for dumping overseas goods. They sold foreign products, showed foreign advertisements, made some changes to the dubbing and subtitles, and finally added a hotline - the 400 toll-free number was popular at that time.

Foreign advertisements are not bad, but the prices are really too high and they are not suitable for local use. Even so, the amazed Chinese audience couldn't help but pick up the phone and place an order immediately.

Although the per capita living area in China is far less than that in the United States, some people still buy space-consuming fitness equipment such as horse riding machines.

It should be called the Bodybuilding Knight.

The Chinese, who are good at learning, quickly figured out the tricks of TV shopping, and more and more Chinese products were sold in shopping programs.

The first products to attract attention were the urgently needed weight loss drugs. Some of the people who got rich first also became fat first, and losing weight without exercise has become a necessity.

A representative example of this type of advertisement is the American V26 slimming product endorsed by an American superstar, Michael Jackson...an imitator.

In fact, this is authentic Chinese goods

The popularity of diet pills did not last long. Another type of product that was more suitable for the television platform and had greater visual impact completely dominated the mainstream of TV shopping programs.

That is the focus of this time - breast enhancement products.

As the tactics of TV direct marketing become more familiar to people, viewers have become able to easily skip channels that are playing commercials. The only thing is that when the breast enhancement advertisement plays, my fingers always hesitate. It is just these few seconds of hesitation that creates hundreds of millions of profits for the merchants.

Take Deweisi, China’s largest TV shopping company at the time, as an example. This company was founded in 1995 and had sales revenue of a staggering 223 million yuan by 1998, with revenue of 11.8 million yuan a day.

In the field of TV shopping where women are the main consumer group (63%) , Deweisi has achieved huge sales figures solely by relying on its Figo Pas Bead Massage Bra, an underwear with breast enhancement function.

Figo Paz, Figure Plus

People even joked:

"The DeVos company can support itself with just one 'Fig Pass' bra."

There was another joke at the time:

"Raul scores, Figo passes."

With the proliferation of breast enhancement ads in TV shopping, it has developed into an entire encyclopedia of absurd behavior.

From honestly explaining breast structure at the beginning to blatantly promoting pseudoscience in the later stages, TV shopping programs gradually stepped into the grave they dug.

The grotesque exaggeration of China's breast enhancement advertisements even spread back to the United States, the birthplace of TV shopping, and even Americans were stunned.

Even the Ellen Show couldn't help complaining

How can such a ridiculous advertisement make people willingly pick up the phone? This brings us to the three magical tricks of TV shopping.

One of the three tricks: the principle and effect of bizarre

As the saying goes, the bolder the man, the more productive the land. When a lie becomes so exaggerated that it is completely illogical, people will believe it.

Early TV direct sales introduced a large number of advertisements from Taiwan, China. The explanations of product mechanisms were relatively conservative, and traditional breast-enhancing foods such as papaya were often used as promotional materials.

Just talking about papaya is not enough to make people excited, otherwise everyone would go to the fruit stall instead of watching TV.

We must emphasize its excellent effect. For the same papaya, the products sold on TV shopping can increase your penis size by one inch in three days.

There was a comment in the barrage: Isn’t this an air pump?

Compared with the restrained behavior of their counterparts in Taiwan, the latecomers in the mainland were quick to invent new theories based on the unique psychology of local consumers, such as gamma waves and beta rays, with imagination comparable to that of science fiction writers.

There is a breast enlargement drink specially designed for lazy people, which claims that you don't need to do anything, just drink tea every day to enlarge your bust. It greatly satisfies the consumer psychology of seeking speed and saving money.

There is also a cream launched by a well-known brand that claims to use the latest scientific research results of the French Abu Miller Laboratory.

This French laboratory with a German name (Muller) discovered the culprit of sagging breasts - the breast spongy body that cannot absorb fat, and this product can perfectly solve this problem.

You can search on Baidu to find out what the corpus cavernosum is and where it grows in the human body. Judging from the picture, the mammary corpus cavernosum is most likely another name for the Photoshop liquefaction function.

There is also a breast enhancement bra called "Jealous Magic Hand" which has another magical theory. Please note that the name of this product is not in white. It is neither jealousy nor envy, but the real "jealousy".

The breast enhancement theory is derived as follows:

Isn't the human heart on the left side? It beats in the left chest all the time, so the left chest is naturally bigger.

Their bras simulate the movement of heartbeats, massaging both breasts at the same time, without favoring anyone, so aren't they all the same size?

Are you comparing the size of your left and right breasts?

There are also claims that using magical stones as raw materials can enlarge breasts and treat various gynecological diseases at the same time.

Menstrual disorders, breast hyperplasia...more than 99% of female diseases can be prevented by using their products. "If you have a disease, you can cure it. If you don't have a disease, you can enlarge your breasts and prevent disease." The slogan is loud and clear, "Men need to nourish the kidneys, and women need to nourish the uterus."

Their products can form an all-round high-energy bio-electric field protection shield for the ovaries and breasts.

This is not a bra, it's a holy garment.

Wait, all-round high-energy bioelectric field protection shield, I seem to have heard of it somewhere?

Of course, the most powerful and touching ones are the products that appeared later that can both reduce weight and enhance breasts.

For example, this quantum bra, just the name gives it a high-tech feel.

What is the quantum method? It turns out that they have discovered something called quantum stone, which can transfer abdominal fat to the chest, thus slimming the waist and enlarging the breasts, killing two birds with one stone. It is simply a perfect product.

Someone may ask, what should skinny people with no breasts and no belly do?

Good students who have taken physics classes must be wondering what kind of quantum is this.

Don't worry, the advertisement also explains that this quantum stone that can move fat like a magnet is a rare thing. In ancient times, people called it Ceylon gemstone, and it is only produced in Nepal and Chile.

So, why is it called the Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) gem?

Someone may ask again, if it is so exaggerated and fake, will anyone really believe it? The magic of marketing lies in pushing one's logic all the way to the end, which makes people more convinced.

Since breast enhancement products are so effective, would continuous use of them lead to extraordinary results?

It really is said that way! The name of their product is "Infinity". This spray that uses coupled peptide protein claims that "it gets bigger when you spray it in the morning, and it gets bigger again when you spray it in the evening, and it gets bigger every second."

The kind merchants also thoughtfully reminded consumers that they must not forget to stop when the bicycle reaches a certain size, otherwise it will be inconvenient to move around, which moved the consumers to tears.

If it is really too big, it doesn't matter, just apply a hot towel and it will become smaller in half an hour...

The second of the three tricks: scientific experiments, well-reasoned and convincing

Consumers are emotional, so you need to use exaggerated effects to impress them; consumers are also rational, so you also need to use rigorous experiments to convince them.

In the traditional advertising industry, the part that specifically explains how a product works is called RTB, which stands for Reason To Believe.

The half shell in the toothpaste advertisement that can never be broken is the most typical RTB.

In order to convince savvy consumers that belly fat can turn into firm breasts, scientific experiments are needed.

The quantum bra mentioned above conducted such an experiment. A mass of something called fat was able to move in the U-shaped tube along with the quantum stone!

This is a Nobel-level discovery!

Products that can provide women with AT force fields are not far behind. In addition to replicating the function of fat shape-shifting, they have also conducted another demonstration experiment that can change the laws of physics.

Something magical happened! The beaker with quantum stone as a cushion can actually absorb the grease floating on the water to the bottom of the cup.

In fact, if you have some common sense of middle school chemistry and physics, you will know what is going on.

The third of the three tricks: Speaking from personal experience and selling fear

The last and most ruthless trick is to arouse the panic in the audience's hearts and transfer the worst life experience in the advertisement to themselves.

Family, work, social life... Life is short and it's bound to be without some twists and turns, but TV shopping is all about making a fuss out of nothing.

Why would a husband who has been married for many years want to support a mistress and seek divorce?

"It's just that her breasts are bigger than mine."

Why are new interns able to beat out highly educated old employees and snatch promotion opportunities?

"It's just that her breasts are bigger than mine."

Why do other people's daughters develop normally and marry rich men, but my daughter becomes an old spinster?

Is there any need to ask, "It's just that her breasts are bigger than my daughter's."

Letting seemingly ordinary consumers share their experiences and selling panic is probably the most effective tactic in TV shopping.

Everyone's story seems so real and so cruel that you can't help but believe it.

There is even a great mother who accidentally developed a second growth spurt in order to test the effect on her daughter...

Another image that reassures Chinese consumers is the so-called expert in a white coat - and he or she must be a foreigner, or at least Japanese.

Look at the familiar Figo Paz expert pulling spring -

The fall of breast enhancement advertising

Looking back at the various TV shopping ads, it is not difficult for anyone with a discerning eye to find something fishy in them. For example, the so-called before-and-after comparison effect is nothing but a poor application of post-production technology. Compared with the stunning beauty in the circle of friends today, it is nothing but a drop in the bucket.

In fact, newspapers and television at the time reported on the shooting techniques of this type of advertising, but the influence was far less than the fatigue bombardment of TV shopping ads.

An advertising industry insider once revealed that the shooting of TV shopping commercials is a system unto itself and is not in the same circle as the traditional TV advertising industry.

When this type of advertisement is shot with the before effect, the actors will have their backs hunched and their backs hunched, and will wear loose tops with distinct light and shadow. When shooting the after-effect, wear cool clothes, tighten your waist and chest as much as possible, and overexpose.

Some celebrity once said: Breasts are like water in a sponge, if you squeeze them there will always be some.

Another trick is to create tension in price and time.

Most TV shopping programs claim that only the first 100 viewers who call in will receive amazing discounts. In fact, the so-called discount is almost negligible compared to the cost.

At this time, if you announce that you will give away a bottle of areola restoring cream if you call within ten minutes, the consumer's psychological defense will completely collapse.

The last and most important thing is the tacit understanding between TV shopping merchants and TV stations.

In the past, TV shopping did not have dedicated channels. People would only buy the cheapest and lowest-rated time slots on TV stations, mainly during the day on weekdays and after 10 p.m.

Each broadcast is a continuous stream of five to ten minutes, bombarding the audience who are just killing time. With sowing widely and reaping little, there will always be a few who will be caught.

Aiptech is another typical representative

The proliferation of television shopping, especially exaggerated and false breast augmentation advertisements, was also related to the imperfect legal and regulatory mechanisms at the time.

Television advertisements are mainly reviewed for content by voluntary advertising associations in the name of consultation. However, the review standards and fees for serious TV commercials and TV shopping commercials are different. A TV commercial that is only 15 seconds long is superior to a 10-minute TV shopping commercial in both aspects, forming a peculiar inverted phenomenon.

There are still many problems with TV shopping ads today

Exaggerated publicity, exorbitant prices, and fake products have finally pushed TV shopping and breast augmentation advertisements into the spotlight of public opinion.

In 2006, TV shopping ads have become the hardest hit area for illegal advertising. In its inspection of more than 30 TV channels across the country, the China Consumers Association found that false TV shopping ads accounted for 61% of the total illegal ads.

At that time, CCTV's famous anti-counterfeiting program "Weekly Quality Report" specifically reported on the breast enhancement product Polybo that caused adverse reactions but was not returnable. The so-called breast enhancement magic tool is actually an ordinary food.

The tip of the iceberg of the black industry chain of TV shopping and breast enhancement products has finally been revealed.

Polybo, which had daily sales of up to 2.4 million yuan, quickly disappeared after being exposed by CCTV. There was also a storm of public opinion in the media criticizing breast enhancement products and TV shopping.

In July 2006, the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce jointly issued the "Notice on the Rectification of Radio and Television Medical Information Services and TV Shopping Program Content", which urgently stopped TV shopping programs such as breast augmentation, weight loss, and height increase.

From then on, products directly targeting breast enhancement were no longer seen on TV shopping shows. The breast augmentation advertisements on TV, which seemed glamorous but were actually shrouded in shady dealings, have bid farewell to the audience.

However, in subsequent TV shopping programs, you can still see products that skirt the line, such as advertisements for body shaping underwear.

Although shaping underwear brands such as Shatixuanlin and Tingmei secretly operate under the name of women's clothing, audiences still regard them as substitutes for breast enhancement advertisements.

Compared with the ads before the rectification, it is now difficult to find the imaginative working principle.

From then on, TV shopping entered a new historical stage. Taiwan's crazy hawking-style advertising, represented by Mr. Hou's Eight Hearts and Eight Arrows, as well as formal shopping channels brought by foreign capital, have become the new normal for TV shopping.

Deweiss, which once enjoyed great success thanks to Figo Paz, can now only rely on the wealth left by the "Poppy Doll" to get a share of the artificial intelligence toy market. Many more TV shopping companies have also quietly disappeared into history.

In the era of live streaming, things that can be done with the help of photo editing software and artificial intelligence no longer seem to need to be sold through TV shopping.

Author: Smiley Dog

Source: Earthling Research Report (ID: diqiuren005)