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...Available from ALL GOOD BOOKSHOPS!

Sometimes you might hear someone advertising a product and they say "Available from ALL GOOD bookshops" or "from ALL GOOD video shops" or "AT ALL GOOD..." well you can see the idea.

But let's look at that a bit closer. It's all very well having the idea that the product is available generally. (See List of Bookshops, video / cd shops, shops, etc). Plus, it's also nice to have the idea that the places that stock the item in question are of good reputation. However, there is a more sinister side to the expression involving "available from all good bookshops". Looking at it logically, if the aforementioned item is "available from all good shops", then any place which does not stock the item in question is by implication NOT GOOD!

In effect the maker of the item in question is making a sweeping judgement upon all retailers, saying in effect that any place that does not sell the item is not a good shop! This also implies an intrinsic persuasion that is supposed to cajole any retailer who currently does not stock the product into getting a supply of these things and putting them on the shelves so as to escape the cruel indictment of their retail establishment not being "good".

But let's get this right. Anyone making such an advertising claim that their product is "available in ALL GOOD outlets" is on very shaky ground, as people aren't fooled by that. People aren't as stupid as some salesmen assume them to be! In fact, there are people who will refuse to buy products which are advertised in that way.

But on a more optimistic note, this page you are reading here includes links to some good bookshops, but it is not a complete list. That is, all the places on this page are in my opinion GOOD, but there is no inference that places that aren't included here are BAD. Furthermore, another incomplete list of good bookshops can be seen at the page of BOOKSHOPS. Some of them pay me commission, and some don't, but I like to be inclusive rather than exclusivist.

Another technique which is supposed to help sell stuff is the £9.99 idea, ie having a price which is a penny less than a round number. More about this at the page about 99p. Surely people aren't fooled by that?

Another unfair psychological technique is You're Either With Us Or Against Us, which has more sinister overtones, and is characteristic of extremist or fundamentalist politicians.