As Seen on TV!

If you haven't yet seen the Easton Press infomercial check it out now. In the words of EP, "you'll be glad you did." It's very classy --

http://www.asseenontvvideos.com/video/94bceea4d52989a/Easton-Press-Television-Co...

I love the quality, but I hate the gauche advertising.

I was particularly amused by the bookshelves of standard books with all of the books haphazardly thrown on the shelves as compared to the bookshelves of E/P books, which are all neatly arranged with the books properly placed for maximum visual appeal.

Also, if I didn't know better, I would think I was going to be able to acquire the entire set of the '100 Greatest' for just $5.95. I know, I know ... if you pay close attention it never says that, but it sure isn't straight forward either.

Seems a bit cheesy to me, lacking the dignity and conservative reserve with which I associate Easton Press.

Thanks for the link, but it just seemed so cheesy. I am happy we don't have these kind of commercial here. I would scratch my eyes out.

I also noticed the standard books artfully arranged to look haphazardly thrown on the shelves. Of course, the owner of those books would likely not care about EP books either.

As for the price, from the infomercial I would think that 1) Huck Finn is $5.95 and 2) the rest of the books are $39.95 each since that price is shown, then crossed out. However, unlike most of EP's offerings, the shipping and handling charge of $4.95 for each title is added on to the price.

I went to the www.myhuckfinn.com website shown in the infomercial and again, it doesn't clearly state the price of the other titles. It does mention the shipping & handling charge in asterisked small print. However, I think the 2 minute commercial on the site has the dignity and conservative reserve appropriate for Easton Press.

you mean www.myhuckfinn.com, no?

ETA: Ah, you fixed it before I posted...you fast, me slow.

I especially liked the family of four reading classics together.....if only!!

Funny that your link is (was) typed as 'Hick' instead of 'Huck', which is american slang for a person considered to be gullible or unsophisticated. Regarding $39.95, it is crossed out with a new price of $5.95 posted. Would it not be just as reasonable to presume this is the new price for all of these books since at no time does it indicate that this is a special introductory rate and that subsequent purchases will be at the full price of $39.95 plus $4.95 s/h? I know this is a presumption, but an intended one carefully crafted by marketing professionals, I am sure.

I concur the two minute ad at myhuckfinn.com is much more tastefully crafted.

>4 LucasTrask:, LucasTrack, I agree the two minute commercial is much more tasteful.

Yes 2 minute is MUCH better. Not quite as pretentious as the 5 minute. They should have skipped the family scenes all together opting to just show one kid at a time.

Another angle could have been to read some passages from the books. LOA did this with their 25th anniversary video. You can view this on http://www.loa.org it is very good. Get people actually interested in reading the books and not just looking great on the shelf.

Oh, and visit some customers that actually have EP books in their home, not paid actors.

My EP books look great, my shelves don't :)

The LOA video is terrific!

Nicholas Basbanes, author of many books about books including A Gentle Madness, makes a good pitch for the LOA during a tour of his home library: http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/283398-1 The program is an hour long, but definitely worth the time for those of you that enjoy perusing personal libraries.

I've seen this Easton commercial before late at night on TV. Its as if they are selling furniture, not books. Its badly executed and I am not sure what niche they are aiming it for...people who read or people who decorate?

It is cheesy, but I don't blame EP. Research shows that advertising of this nature often works with its target audience of casual, semi-committed bibliophiles - not the hard core nuts like us that need no convincing.