Sun-Sentinel’s Deceitful Ad To Build Circulation
BY BUDDY NEVINS
As if news outlets didn’t have enough credibility problems, along comes the Sun-Sentinel’s latest deceitful ad campaign designed to revive the paper’s sinking circulation.
A mailer promises “Sunday home delivery and unlimited digital access” to the paper for one year for $10.
Ten dollars is more like $74. Just read the small print.
I wonder how many in the newspaper’s target audience can even read the microscopic disclosure statement that spells out the extra costs.
The language states that the Sun-Sentinel reserves the right to add up to 10 “premium issues” a year at $4 each.
That’s an additional $40.
Disclosure language also says that there will be 41 cents per-issue to cover “transportation.”
That’s an additional $21 for a year of Sunday papers delivered to a home.
Transportation costs may “vary and are subject to increase.”
The generous Sun-Sentinel offers a laughable way to save the delivery cost of $21: “You have the option to pick up your paper to avoid transportation costs.”
I wonder if anybody even opted to drive to the Deerfield Beach printing plant at 4 a.m. and pick up the papers themselves?
This ad — a Labor Day Special that was delivered to my house this week, long after the holiday. — is as duplicitous as any low-ball automobile ad.
Then again, car salesmen are right down there with newspapers on believability surveys.
Caveat Emptor: The Sun-Sentinel’s tiny disclosure language
September 30th, 2016 at 9:27 am
This is what happens when they lost all those massage parlor ads in the sports section to the Internet.
September 30th, 2016 at 3:33 pm
I understand that Donald J Trump advised the Sun-Sentinel on their new subscription plan.
September 30th, 2016 at 6:36 pm
According to what you posted, it says the price includes delivery charges, not delivery charges extra.
FROM BUDDY:
The math wouldn’t make sense if the transportation was included, although that is what it appears to say.
Forty one (41) cents per week is more than $21 for a year, not $10. Why even mention that figure if it was not an add on? How can you save the 41 cents by picking the paper up when it adds up to more than 19 cents per issue, which would be the cost at $10 for 52 weeks.
October 3rd, 2016 at 6:53 am
I guess the Sun Sentinel has lost its moral compass