There is a famous quote that says something to the effect of ‘If you repeat a lie often enough it becomes the truth.” No one seems to know who actually said it, I’ve seen it attributed to a lot of infamous historical figures like Lenin and Joseph Goebbels, but I think it actually came from someone like Don Draper. Who ever it was, I think they were way before their time, because that quote is a tailor made description of modern social media. Whisper in the ears of the right people in the right places and you’ll soon be hearing the lie from all corners. In effect, if not in reality, the lie becomes true.
Let me share my fun times trying to buy early Christmas presents as an example…. (if you want something more visceral, I refer you to the vodka soaked tampon rumors currently pwning the web)
I’ve been anxiously waiting for the twins to get old enough to play some video games, and now that their fourth birthday is on the horizon it’s finally time. So a few weeks ago the wife and I decided we wanted to get them one of the little hand-helds that are made for kids. I did a lot of research and decided the new LeapPad was what we wanted. It’s essentially a cut-down iPad built a little more rugged for kids. So I started monitoring the prices online back around Halloween.
Right about this time I started seeing the ‘Hot Toys for Christmas’ lists, with the LeapPad right at the top. It started small on some obscure websites that I only saw because of my Google Alert on ‘LeapPad’ but then I saw it on the morning news show as I was getting ready for work. It worked on me too. I decided I’d better go ahead and grab a couple now because surely there won’t be a buying run on them before Thanksgiving. Just in case we had another ‘Tickle Me Elmo’ craze on our hands.
I was wrong. The lie has been repeated enough times already. It now really is the hot toy for Christmas because they were everywhere last week and nowhere to be found on the Internet or in stores now. Amazon Marketplace has sellers hawking them at 60-70% markup and the auctions are starting at 30% markup on Ebay.
At this point I’m expecting I’ll still be able to find one two before Christmas, because it’s only Thanksgiving after all. Hopefully the biggest worry I’m going to have is whether or not it’s ethical to sell one on Ebay for double come mid-December. Because I really should be compensated for the trouble, right?
