Truth in advertising...

...or a lack there of.

Ok, I going to try not to go off on too many tangents with this post.  However, this is a subject that has always annoyed me.  The P. T. Barnum line, "there's a sucker born every minute" was undoubtedly a conservative estimate.  My personal belief is that late night TV ads are a pretty good watermark of where we are as a civilization.  How scary is that when you think about it?  The irony of an ad trying to sell us on adding a "4th Meal" to our already sedintary day....being followed up by an ad for a weight loss product that magically blocks the added calories of that "beef product taco" without the "pain and discomfort of diet/exercise".  Like I said, I am going to try to stay on point here.

The specific reason for this post is that I saw another ad for "The Forearm Forklift".  Now I know posting a bad review on this page may seem a tad hypocritical sense I am sure google will have some form of "magical lifting strap" advertised somewhere to the right of these words.  However, in google's defense, what else are they going to try to sell on a Mover's Blog?  It's not like the late Billy May's and his brethren are spending a lot of time hocking equipment to make moving easier.  And who could blame them, even if you make moving slightly easier it's still too much physical activity for the average American to willingly participate in.  It is so much easier just to pay some poor schmuck like me to do it.

Again trying to get back on point, The commercials for The Forearm Forklift are an absolute JOKE!  Now don't get me wrong, the straps work for some limited applications.  They honestly make moving some things easier.  However, they make moving some things even more awkward, so it's kind of a wash.  Having been in this business for over a year I know how heavy things are on average.  To me it is insulting when you see two 100lb women moving a refrigerator.  Now before I am mistaken for a chauvinist, the reason it is insulting is because I can tell that they have gutted the fridge so it only weight 50lbs.  And then you see these same "heroin chic" models carrying a plastic piano downstairs or some other impossible move. 

For the record, I am NOT a critic that criticizes things I know nothing about.  I have actually used the straps several times.  We have had them for over a year.  And after fighting with them for about a month, we have pretty much never used them, except in specific situations.  Basically, they do help in certain circumstances, but they are not as magical as the commercials would have you believe.  What I wish they would sell is "common sense".  Honestly, that is what most moving clients really need, but then so does the rest of humanity.  The guy (or gal) that comes up with a way to sell THAT will be an instant Bazillionaire, but I have just eaten breakfast...so I digest.

Caveat Emptor...Let the buyer beware