A Misleading TV Ad

I guess I'm doing another rant today, but I consider this one a public service message. I'm going to save you all a lot of time. But first I want to make one thing clear:

This is NOT a review of the teaching product promoted by the TV ad in question. The teacher in question is an excellent teacher, and I have no doubt the product is a good one. But I'm really pissed off by what I think is a misleading TV commercial.

Okay, here's the deal. No doubt you've seen the TV ads for the new Hank Haney Blueprint DVDs at haneyblueprint.com. The commercial tells you that if you go to that website you'll find a video that will tell you how you can cut 3, 6 or even 10 strokes off your game and furthermore add 4mph to your swing speed. You are led to believe that you will watch a video that tells you how to do this.

Technically, that's true. The video tells you to buy the DVDs. Wow, what a revelation.

But here's what really pisses me off:

• First of all, this "video" is essentially a slide show that flashes up the words being said. That's right, you watch the words being read to you. There are a few photos and a few seconds of Haney helping someone scattered through it, but it's a pitiful excuse for a video.
• To make things worse, the voice isn't even Haney's. That's right, the video that tells you how much you need these wondrous DVDs isn't even the voice of the teacher!
• And what really drove me nuts was the fact that this video gives you no idea how long it goes on. I watched somewhere around 15 minutes of it and then, since it showed no signs of stopping and I had already been told multiple times how Hank was singularly suited to fix my game, I simply left the site.

Clearly the video is little more than a sales pitch... and a boring one at that. After the video ran for a minute or so, a variety of buying options appeared underneath the video. I would have appreciated it if they had been visible from the beginning.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THIS HANEY TEACHING SERIES, LET ME SAVE YOU SOME TIME BY GIVING YOU THE BASIC INFO YOU NEED TO KNOW.

If you saw any of the Haney Project shows on GC, you know that Hank often used a two-plane swing method to try and fix his "projects." (Ray Romano and Charles Barkley come to mind.) The new DVDs use what they're calling "the Haney Parallel Plane Method," which the video eventually says is a one-plane swing method. This one-plane swing is, according to the info that finally came up, "...on plane according to your body’s unique mechanics and delivers a longer, more accurate ball."

There are a variety of products and you can purchase various combinations of them:

• the basic DVD set (which you can also digitally download for $10 less -- and yes, you can buy both digital & DVDs together)
• the "Mini Clinic," a downloadable set of short videos geared to specific swing problems
• a "Swing Plane Caddie," which is apparently a reference card of some sort
• and a 14-day "test drive" of Haney University, his online golf school

And Haney is offering a 365-day money-back guarantee, which sounds better than most of the swing improvement guarantees I've seen.

Let me repeat myself: I'm not making any judgments about the quality of the teaching materials Haney has created. I'm certain these are high-quality materials from a well-respected teacher. But I'm terribly disappointed with the way he's chosen to market it.

Don't waste your time on that useless video. If you want Hank's new instructional materials, let the video run for a minute or so until the ordering info appears, then turn it off and place your order.

Thus endeth today's rant.