Tom Selleck hawking reverse mortgages on MSNBC (commercial)

[Coventina]

I don't get it.

Why would anyone want to take advice on their home from Tom Selleck?
Is he some sort of financial expert?
He's never going to be in need of a reverse mortgage!
I get that he's paid to hawk these things, I just don't get why it's considered effective?

Ugh.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. People pay attention to celebrities.

Also, they know how to read a script smoothly and professionally. They just do a better ad than some yokel from the marketing department.

[Chainfire]

2. He is a scumbag for selling the product

I expect him to promote payday loans next....

[jimfields33]

6. Weird thing is he doesn't need the money

He’s on the current hit blue bloods where I’m sure he makes a fortune. It’s not like he’s some dried up actor. I’m am grateful blue bloods was renewed again. It’s a great show.

[LiberalFighter]

11. I don't watch Blue Bloods because of him. And because it is a police show.

[Aristus]

13. Me either.

The first time I saw the promo spots' breathless, orgasmic reverence for police officers, I knew it wasn't something I was going to watch, at least not without something handy to barf into...

[jimfields33]

32. It's my guilty pleasure

I love the law and orders and the Chicago triplets too. But I totally get why it’s a turn off.

[RhodeIslandOne]

34. Never seen it

It feels like the type of show that wouldn't dare address police corruption, unlike Law and Order did.

[jimfields33]

35. They do but not heavy handed like they should. No renouncing of bad actions for example

[Blue_true]

47. It has dealt with police corruption and questionable police acts.

I think that it is a pretty good show. The show profiles things that happen in society. It also profiles cop personalities, the hot headed detective Danny who has a brusque way to getting to justice and fairness, the educated, thoughtful beat cop Jamie, who is willing to see all sides of an issue. Maybe over factionalized, but a solid, watchable show, though not on the level that Law & Order is at.

[edhopper]

36. $45 million

obviously isn't enough. So why RIP off some seniors.

[mercuryblues]

3. It a trust issue

He plays the good guy on TV. A friendly, familiar face hawking something detrimental to seniors. They bite.

[Thomas Hurt]

4. He is like the third or fourth older celeb to hawk these things.

it is just about them being famous and older.

[kysrsoze]

16. Before dickhole Selleck, it was dickhole Fred Thompson. Such disgusting dirtbags.

[a kennedy]

5. and I immediately turn the mute button on......

[samsingh]

9. this commercial disgusts me. i never watch it.

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

7. "This isn't my first rodeo"

WTF does that even mean in this context?

I change the channel.

[a kennedy]

12. Yup, exactly, the first time I heard that, I flipped the mute button on......

isn’t my first rodeo indeed.

[PatSeg]

8. "If you're like me..........."

That's how he starts off, as if he can relate to struggling seniors out there. I also don't get why anyone would fall for that. He's not the only very wealthy celebrity to do commercials for reverse mortgages, I guess someone must believe them.

[Johnny2X2X]

10. Reverse Mortgages are awful for almost all home owners.

They only make sense for a very few retired people.

Your home is where most of your wealth can be, giving that up under less than favorable interest rates and returns is just a scam.

[TeamPooka]

15. The check cleared and Selleck is a whore

[brooklynite]

17. Celebrity endorsements for insurance et al have been around for decades.

[Aristus]

18. Reverse mortgages and home equity lines of credit have the same raddled, syphilitic parent:

Banks that couldn't stand the idea of people owning their own homes and having inheritable wealth.

They dreamed up scams to convince homeowners to sell their homes back to the bank.

[oasis]

39. But..but, Selleck says "it's not a scheme to take away your home"

in a most reassuring tone. He uses that line twice in the ad, so he's gotta be telling the truth, right.

[procon]

19. And William Shatner is hawking breathing equipment.

It's the money. Look at these stars, they are older, their careers are winding down and they don't get a lot of offers for staring roles, so these commercials are money in the bank.

Big name companies are willing to shell out millions in exchange for a celeb endorsement to help boost their brand and increase profits. And it works... Consumer figure a wealthy movie star wouldn't be involved in anything shady and trust their personal endorsement is legit.

A "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star was paid $2 million for a single ad for Depend adult diapers. The fees run from $500K into the million$ just for sitting down and reading a few lines, and they may also get residuals, a payout every time their spot runs on TV.

[Coventina]

21. I can buy into the idea that Shatner needs a CPAP. Money doesn't protect you against aging.

(Well, maybe a little bit, but sooner or later it catches up to you).

Tom Selleck needing a reverse mortgage? Not so much.

[stopbush]

22. Shatner isn't hawking breathing equipment.

He’s hawking a machine that cleans the tubing on CPAP machines. That machine - So Clean - costs $300 and is not covered by Medicare or most health insurance companies.

[Sgent]

27. More importantly

there is no evidence it does anything beneficial.

[ProfessorGAC]

28. All The CPAP Parts...

...are made of materials essentially impervious to both isopropanol and low concentration of chlorine bleach.
Those seems a way cheaper option than $300.
A pint of IPA would last months, a bottle of bleach 3 years!

[stopbush]

30. I use a CPAP machine every night, and it does what it's supposed to do.

I have no idea whether that cleaning machine does what it claims. I still wash my tubing out with soap and water.

[Sgent]

50. Yea I meant the cleaning machine

there is no evidence that it does anything useful over soap and water. CPAP definitely does.

[Blue_true]

48. Selleck stars in a Top 10 weekly television series. He likely makes close to $1 million per episode

He doesn’t need the money. Shatner, I think, I’d worth several tens of millions of dollars, he was a spokesperson and early investor in the discount hotel room search service “Hotels.com”, I think that he invested in a second Dot.com that hit big, although which one slips my mind.

I think that for both, it is the glare of camera lights, morals be damned.

[wryter2000]

20. They drive me nuts

"This isn't my first rodeo." I always scream at the TV "You haven't had a mortgage since the 1960's."

[Hoyt]

23. Reverse mortgages, payday loans, etc., are a last ditch effort to stay afloat. Not for most folks.

If I'm not mistaken Fred Thompson used to do those reverse mortgage ads.

[madamesilverspurs]

24. Reagan signed the Reverse Mortgage Act into law.

Selleck is a hardcore Reagan worshipper. He would never consider questioning anything RR did.

Total turnoff.


.

[Coventina]

25. I've never understood Selleck's "sex appeal".

When I was in 8th grade, all the girls in my class were in love with him due to "Magnum, PI".

I thought he was gross. Nothing I've ever learned about him since has changed my mind one bit.

[Aristus]

43. I read somewhere, TV Guide maybe, that he was filming the pilot for a series that went nowhere.

Some production assistant went around to the female crew before Selleck arrived, telling them "Prepare yourself; he's very, very handsome."

I'm not sure why they needed some kind of warning, or if the assistant was one of Selleck's entourage massaging his ego...

[Polybius]

60. I agree

Although I must say, he looks great for 73 (or whatever age he is).

[fescuerescue]

26. That advertisement is just like any other advertisement

To get you talking about it. To get you thinking about it.

Then, when you are of age, and perhaps needing money. Maybe today or 10 years from now, you'll think of this product and investigate it.

Advertisements are about owning just a little bit of their mindshare.

And this one in particular worked on you and everyone in this thread.

[edhopper]

37. sounds like people here know exactly what is wrong

with reverse mortgages.
And criticizing Selleck for it.
Not "talking about the product"

[fescuerescue]

51. That's true

Do you think that the entire population is as bright and aware as those in this thread?

Or do you think that the company making this commercials is just wasting money year after year after year making them, but someone manages to stay in business despite no customers?

See that's the thing. The makers of advertisements KNOW that many, if not most people reject the message. But if they can influence 1 in 10,000, then it's a roaring success. For this product, maybe 1 in 100,000

Do they know it annoys the other 99,999? Of course they do. Does your annoyance cost them anything? Nope.

[edhopper]

53. You specifically said the advertising

was working on people in this thread.

And this one in particular worked on you and everyone in this thread.

I pointed out that no, it wasn't.

We know why Selleck is a good spokesperson for them. We know how advertising works.
That is what we are criticizing.

[fescuerescue]

54. Well we are talking about it

So yes it is working.

It's been proven that obnoxious, annoying ads have a larger impact on sales than soothing or funny ads.

Much of advertising is counter-intuitive.

In fact, it's said that advertising works best when you don't know it's working.

[edhopper]

55. I guarantee

no one on this thread is going to get a reverse mortgage or recommend one to anyone.

Your stance that we should never talk about deceptive advertising is ridiculous.

[fescuerescue]

56. Oh gosh no

Im not advocating that we never talk about advertising. I do it all the time. While I'm not in the business I do find it fascinating from a psych and business perspective.

I'm just pointing out that advertisers -LOVE- it when we do talk about their ads. They ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT and if an ad doesn't lead directly to a sale, the second best result is that we talk about their ad. Mind you they are spending millions to obtain those two results.

why? because we inform lots of other people who will nod their heads and agree with us. And then a non-zero number will go out and check it out and of those, some will actually buy the product.

Will that happen with the ~24 of us? Probably not. But when you add up the population in the US who are talking negatively about this particular mortgage product, the number of people who sign up will NOT be zero.

Believe me. The billions spent on advertising over the last 5 decades isn't just an experiment in ego. It earns even more billions.

[edhopper]

57. True for the most part

but that is more about annoying ads that people "hate".

This is about a normal ad for a destructive product.

And occasionally Mad Ave comes up with a campaign that people find so wrong that it hurts the product.

[hunter]

40. There's no commercials on the television in our house.

Our television plays DVDs and Netflix. That's pretty much all it does.

We don't suffer cable, satellite, or broadcast television.

Our adult children and their cousins don't pay any attention to "traditional" television. Those who have televisions 'cast stuff from their cell phones. They don't have antennas and they don't have cable or satellite television.

This probably explains all those senior citizen ads.

I thought Tom Selleck was an old guy when I was a kid. If Magnum P.I. was on and I was visiting my parents my mom would watch it and tell everyone to shut the fuck up because otherwise we'd fight.

I don't like Tom Selleck, not at all, but I do have fond memories of watching Magnum P.I. with my mom.

Little did my mom know I was living my own Magnum P.I. lifestyle then, a hell of a lot more exciting and dangerous. I have some wicked scars to show for it.

[fescuerescue]

52. The advertising market is changing for sure

That's why advertisers are switching to online ads.

It's why Facebook is "free" to use, but still manages to earn millions and make Mark Zuckerberg a billionaire.


btw, that's my perception as well. Tom Selleck is one of those guys that has "always" been old. I remember watching Magnum PI as a kid too.

[Nature Man]

59. couldn't have said it better!

precisely.

[ironflange]

29. I've hard it said that you should get a reverse mortgage. . .

. . .if you really hate your kids.

[Liberal In Texas]

42. And if you don't mind having your home foreclosed on as soon as you step into a long-term

care facility. They'll sell it on the courthouse steps just to get back what they're owed and to hell with the rest of the equity you might have.

[hunter]

49. If my parents leave me and my siblings anything more than memories I will be sad.

For now they seem to be enjoying themselves immensely. They've lived in many exotic places and are living in such a place now.

When I was growing up my parents were artists with day jobs. When they retired they became full time artists.

My dad has a pretty good union pension, my mom has her social security, and I want them to enjoy every last penny of it.

Me and my siblings could offer them better deals than a reverse mortgage but it seems unlikely it will ever come to that.

My wife's parents are similar.

Two of my grandparents died shortly after they retired. Their surviving spouses never really had any fun and left their self-sufficient children and grandchildren with money and property they didn't need.

One of my grandfathers loved Spain. After my grandmother died he should have moved there and enjoyed the final decades of his life with a hot mistress or two. He could have spent every last penny and family would have sent him more. Alas he didn't do that and died with an "estate."

[jalan48]

31. American's bought a Grade B actor for President. nt

[RhodeIslandOne]

33. Robert Wagner, Fred Thompson and James Garner used to advertise for them

Maybe Alex Trebek too?

It's something they love to hook older folks on.

[edhopper]

38. good read

http://bankruptcyresources.org/content/reverse-mortgage-nightmare-%E2%80%93-why-seniors-are-losing-their-homes

[Vinca]

41. I have a top ten list of ad people I want to see drop dead.

He's #1 and Joe Namath is #2. Every time I see Joe Namath hawking stuff I remember my grandmother's movie magazines where he was always featured with some starlet and always wore a giant fur coat. "Broadway Joe" - that's what they called him. The PCMatic guy band has moved off the list for the time being as long as they don't make any of those annoying ads.

[Solomon]

45. Lol. I marvel at how they made him such a glamorous

figure when he's so freaking ugly!

[Happy Hoosier]

44. Reverse mortgages...

... are an artifact of a completely failed retirement system. They exist because people don’t have pensions and homes often represent the only accumulated wealth they have to spend.

[Solomon]

46. Medical bills can get you there quickly.

I find the ads even more sinister in this current covid climate.

Just imagine sucking up all those homes from people that get billed to pay for getting treated for the virus.

[Nature Man]

58. The television is like a family member in many homes

lots of people believe anything they see on tv.

[Caliman73]

61. Celebrity...plain and simple.

There was a thread a little while back on John Wayne, USC was going to move a statue of him or something. He is an alumni of the school but totally racist. I posted about how Americans give celebrities a great deal of power in their opinions and tend to be more open to accepting what they say. That is why Selleck is advertising reverse mortgages. He was a star in the 80's which would put him in the range of my generation when we were children (now in our 40's and 50's) and our parents who are in their 70's and 80's. He would be familiar to them if they watched Magnum PI or Quigley Down Under.

His job is to get people in the door and let the sales people do their jobs. I agree that reverse mortgages are rife with scams and are not a good idea, but back to celebrity...

Hollywood, Broadway, and all the sports leagues are multi-billion dollar industries because people want to be entertained and want to follow "interesting lives". They had Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz advertising cigarettes in the 50's. Air Jordans are still popular today and Michael Jordan hasn't played the game in 20 years.

We need to stop equating people's talent in one area with the importance of their views in other areas.

[WyattKansas]

62. The problem is how reverse mortgages came about in the first place.

*IF* elderly people in the United States have problems meeting medical bills, living expenses, utility bills, other unexpected bills, etc. etc.

Then why is that and what has happened to put so many elderly Americans in such a dire situation? Why hasn't the U.S. Social Safety net kept up with demands on living in the United States? Why doesn't this country ever look at the source of the a problem instead of rigging a symptom fix to scheme more money off of people as part of a 'business' exploiting them?

The answer is much more simple than most Americans want to allow into their minds. Americans have been tricked into thinking capitalism is such a good pure thing, instead of understanding everything in the U.S. has been rigged to 'capture capital' from everywhere in society by Corporate America.

[Doc_Technical]

63. The mantra of the USA is "MORE".

[tandem5]

64. Have you watched The Kominsky Method?

It's a great series. You might find season 1, episode 5 to be particularly appropriate... although I don't recommend skipping ahead.

[edhopper]

65. Loved that

Douglas really laid it out.

[Beringia]

66. He's been doing it for years

I used to see him doing it on cable many years ago