Cool Surge -- Another Scam from Canton, Ohio

Here in Minnesota, we went from heating to cooling season in about 12 hours this week, and what do you know? Instantly we have a Star Tribune ad from the Universal Media Syndicate scammers selling something called "Cool Surge."

Recycling the same layout they used for the Universal Health Card, Amish Heaters, Trigosamine, "free" safes, and a multitude of coin collections, now the dishonest marketers at Arthur Middleton Capital Holdings, parent company of UMS, are selling a mobile box that contains a fan and "two sets of reusable glacier ice blocks" -- basically containers that you fill with water, freeze in your freezer, and then put inside the box so the fan blows over them.

As Dan at Regruntled.com says, the net effect will be to warm your house, given the laws of thermodynamics. In the lengthy comments on Dan's post, at least one person pointed out that it's basically the same as blowing a fan over a bowl of ice. And last time I checked, a fan cost maybe twenty bucks.

Aside from the obvious dishonesty of the whole Universal Media Syndicate enterprise (they dare to describe the Cool Surge as "eco-friendly"!), the thing that irks me the most about them is the insane prices they attach to their junk. $298 for one of these Cool Surges! (You get the second one "free," except the cost of shipping, which -- according to one of the commenters on Regruntled -- was almost $100. So even at best, $200 per unit.)

I can just hear the meeting where they set their prices. Like anyone who's taken Marketing 101, they know that some consumers associate higher prices with higher quality. So jacking up the price reinforces the wishful thinking of the gullible.

I wonder if the people of Canton, Ohio, are ashamed of the way this company drags their town's name through the mud. I sure would be.
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If you want to contact the Star Tribune to complain about the ad, try their main number (612-673-4000) or use the web feedback form to the advertising department.