America 1982-Chapter 129 - 39: Television Live Broadcast Advertising
St. Petersburg, Florida.
"I want to be on a live TV broadcast too, even if it’s just an ad," Jason said, looking enviously at Tommy and Susan, who were getting makeup applied hurriedly in the chaotic makeup room while quickly glancing at their cue cards.
Mark crept over slowly and whispered, "Didn’t I tell you I could get you in a movie..."
"Get lost, Mark! Stay the hell away from me, even further away!" Jason glared at Mark and said, "I will never become an actor! Especially not the kind of actor you’re talking about!"
Holly, arms crossed, stood in the hallway looking towards the distant studio. There, Bob Costa sat in the host’s seat, promoting a cola drink that was said to help with weight loss if consumed over a long period.
Apart from Tommy and Susan, who were invited as guests on Bob’s specially designed advertising broadcast, the other three from Actor Corporation had all chosen to come to Florida amidst their busy schedules. Jason and Holly even took leave for this, naturally because they didn’t want to miss the data from their company’s software’s first TV sales.
There are two types of TV shopping: one is a scripted program with strong entertainment value, almost like a short film, which is common among California’s advertising firms.
The other is like what Bob Costa is doing now, a live broadcast. The whole studio resembles a TV comedy show, with dozens of audience members seated below, and the host on stage promoting various products in a talk show manner, even inviting guests like a comedy show.
Tommy and Susan were specifically invited by Bob to attend the first sales live broadcast. In order to sell ten thousand sets and make his first $150,000, Bob went through several drafts of sales sketches, but still felt that the usual comedic approach to attract the audience wasn’t eye-catching enough. In the end, he chose conspiracy theories as a hook. Lower income groups believe in various conspiracy theories and like to be told the so-called truths behind those conspiracies.
Also considering the lack of persuasive power if he was alone on stage, he thought of Susan, the colleague Tommy had mentioned to him.
"It’s our turn," Holly said a bit excitedly as she saw the cola being moved away in the studio: "The first step for America to know about Actor Corporation." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎
At this moment, inside the broadcast hall, Bob had already picked up two product advertisements and said to the audience and the camera, "This is the product list I got from a computer store on my way back from the taxi association yesterday... Why the taxi association? Because they wanted me to explain why my comedy show was so boring that it caused their members to have multiple collisions. I told them why not to bother those companies that made the cars, blaming them for not developing a function that could help drive when the driver nods off, instead of making it hard for me. After all, my comedy show has always maintained a boring style, which might be the only quality I can boast of..."
"Guess what they said to that, they said those big companies are indeed developing that kind of feature, but even if it’s successful, it would first be sold to the wealthy and never to taxi drivers. It’s said that President Reagan ordered one, so that if there’s an assassination attempt and the driver gets killed, he can escape quickly using that feature, instead of having his brains blown out like President Kennedy."
"Kennedy, Reagan, the two Presidents we poor folks love the most, one assassinated and the other nearly so. If it wasn’t for us citizens who loved them seeking the truth, those behind the curtain might even have claimed that both of them died by suicide~~ We live in a country where bizarre methods of suicide abound."
"Back to the product introductions, the two product lists from the computer store, here’s the first one, the gaming list, clearly printed with a uniform price of 9.9 yuan. Some of you might say, I’m familiar with this list, I bought a second-hand computer for my kid, and he happily used his part-time job money to buy lots of games from the computer store, each game only costing 9.9, and with over a dozen games, kids can have a happy and unforgettable childhood."
"Now let me tell you, this is an absolute conspiracy by the wealthy and big corporations. You always say my comedy show is superficial, well, here comes the sharp topic, a huge conspiracy targeting us the ordinary people. And I, Bob Costa, am the first to reveal this huge conspiracy to you."
"Take a look at the second software list in my hand. I bet your kids never paid attention to it when buying games. This list has seventy software titles and prices printed on it, with the cheapest one being fifty bucks, called ’Microsoft Flight Simulator 1.00.’ It’s a game. You might wonder, what’s the difference between this and those $9.99 games my child plays? Why is it so expensive? Marvin, why do you think it costs so much?"
"Uh... Maybe it’s more fun than those $9.99 games?" hesitated an audience member named Bob whom Hawk had called out.
"Wrong! Let me tell you why, because it’s not just a game, it’s a simulation software. If you’ve played this software, you’ll find out that flying a small plane no longer seems like a difficult thing because you will be able to understand all the various instrument panels, operation buttons, and gears on small planes. That’s why it’s expensive: it gives you knowledge."
"The rich don’t want us to gain knowledge easily. They just want us to be happy poor folks. They worry that if we acquire knowledge cheaply, we will become as wealthy as they are. Seeing others become wealthy makes them more uncomfortable than if those rich folks were killed. Imagine us driving Rolls Royces, wearing fancy clothes, going in and out of upscale hotels just like those rich people. How then can they flaunt what they have to us? They don’t want us to gain knowledge. They only want us to look up at them with envy and desire from the very bottom of society."
"The same floppy disk, loaded with a game that teaches nothing, just kids mindlessly shooting aliens on a TV screen, sells for 9.9 yuan."
"Whereas a random piece of software loaded into this disk, like Lotus 1-2-3 or WordStar, can sell for 495 yuan. So where does the problem lie?"
"Software, that is the stuff loaded onto this floppy disk. You might say, ’Bob, I have no idea what Lotus or WordStar is.’ Well, let me tell you, mastering these two pieces of software means you could land a better-paying job. Learn these two softwares, understand those hundreds of pages of manuals, and you could earn a weekly salary of two or three hundred dollars or even more at big corporations, with vacations, pensions, and health insurance. Yes, just like those people in Miami suited and booted, driving nice cars, working at large corporations. If you master them, you could become one of those people. But the rich have set up barriers; if you want to become one of those people, you need to spend a thousand bucks to buy these two softwares, then buy an advanced computer that costs at least 1200 bucks, and then use your brain to memorize hundreds of pages of manuals."
"Perhaps some women viewers watching this show right now are complaining, ’Bob, give me some cheap diapers, discount cereal, clothes on sale. I don’t need these two softwares. I only finished high school, I don’t understand computers, and I’m not interested. Most importantly, I don’t have two thousand two hundred bucks.’ Great, I know you, like me, don’t have twenty-two hundred bucks. Even better, it’s not just me who knows this; a poor kid from the East Coast countryside, named Tommy Hawk, knows it too."
"OSS, priced at $49.99. You heard it right, not $499, but forty-nine ninety-nine. It has all the functions of the two softwares I mentioned before. You only need to learn this one to be equivalent to learning both. And you don’t need to buy an advanced computer; the cheapest computer on the market can run OSS. Moreover, its manual is only ten pages. If your brain can remember a burger joint’s menu, you can definitely remember this software!"
"You may be saying, ’Bob, what if I don’t even have the most affordable computer?’"
"Our Tommy has thought of that; he offers classes, teachers, and computer training, all for free. Just spend fifty bucks, and you can save at least twenty-two hundred dollars. This is the biggest discount I have ever offered on live TV. Yes, OSS, OfficeSmartSuite, an affordable and absolutely practical software for ordinary people like us!"
"Some people must think Bob has gone crazy. He has never sold such a seemingly complicated product before. I know you’re curious how much advertising dollars the other party paid to get me to take on such a hard sell. No, no, no, I am going to donate all my deserved ad revenue to women’s rights organizations. I was moved by the creator of this software, Tommy Hawk, and chose to promote it without taking advertising fees. I think it’s worth promoting because it will change many people’s destinies. It’s the product that I should sell to you. It’s the best tool for breaking through the rigid class structure of this abnormal country! Please allow me to introduce a female guest. Not long ago, she was making a living from the cheapest kind of flesh trade in the slums of San Jose, but now, OSS has changed her. Welcome, Susan Curtis!!"
Backstage, Tommy gently patted the slightly nervous Susan Curtis on the back, "What are you nervous about?"
"I’ve never been to this kind of event. I don’t know what to say," Susan smiled at Tommy. "Can you give me some advice, Tommy?"
"God teaches us that truth stands forever, but a lie lasts only a moment," Tommy gently patted Susan’s shoulder.
"So, don’t lie, don’t exaggerate, just simply tell them about you, Susan Curtis’ story."
