GOLDLINE - WHY AREN'T THESE GUYS & REPS IN PRISON?

[joshzz]

You see it everyday - Well-known personalities promoting companies like Gold-Line. Glen Beck, Laura Ingraham, etc., all touting the benefits of buying gold from Gold-Line...

The problem is, they skew what is truth is and what is reality. They have a vested interst in the company, they are paid spokespeople. Yet, they talk about Gold-Line as part of their program as if Gold-Line is the greatest company in the world..,when in fact buying gold through gold-line or other similar type company, is an absolutely terrible investment.

The reason - they mark up the price by about 30%- so if you're buying it as an investment, the price of gold will have to increase buy 30% for you to just break even. .. It would be far better to buy shares in any of the mining stocks than to throw your money in the toilet like this.

It deeply troubles me that Gold-Line is on Christian radio stations. They're merely hucksters and the personalities that sell their souls to do their bidding are merely partners in crime. josh

 

[oaktree]

The same could be said for the likes of Robert Wagner pitching Reversible Mortgages or Alex Trebek doing same for insurance.

It pays the bills -- and handsomely, because the companies know that people like Beck and the above are "trusted."

The reason, in fact, why Paul Harvey invested in -- not only "tried" -- products or businesses he promoted for years on his program.

He used to say, frequently, that he appreciated "those who put their money where my mouth is." And he did -- because he wisely invested in sponsor businesses -- many who lasted with him for decades. Mr. Harvey did just fine in doing so.

There is a difference between an "investor" or a "Paid Spokesperson."

Reportedly, Rush Limbaugh did the same, at least early on -- remember "Snapple"? And there were others, as well.

 

[landtuna]

It deeply troubles me that Gold-Line is on Christian radio stations. They're merely hucksters and the personalities that sell their souls to do their bidding are merely partners in crime. josh

Why should you be troubled or surprised? Seems like a perfect match.

 

[jerry367]

It deeply troubles me that Gold-Line is on Christian radio stations. They're merely hucksters and the personalities that sell their souls to do their bidding are merely partners in crime. josh

Why should you be troubled or surprised? Seems like a perfect match.

The reason it is so unseemly that these hosts are pitching gold to their audiences is that these hosts (especially Beck) are constantly setting the stage of paranoia ro do with the economy and our monitary system. What better way to further persuade people to buy gold than to cast doubt on our financial system(s) day after day?

GOLD to the rescue!

In this age of conscienceless talkradio, why would you be surprised?

 

[joshzz]

Excellent point! ... The Sky is falling everyday in their world!

josh

 

[dmargalotti]

The reason - they mark up the price by about 30%- so if you're buying it as an investment, the price of gold will have to increase buy 30% for you to just break even. ..

A 30% mark up on a product hardly makes it criminal as you've categorized it. Had you purchased gold a year ago, you would have made that 30% back plus a whole lot more. As long as Gold Line fully and truthfully discloses their terms prior to purchase, they have every right to sell their product and to employ whatever advertising and marketing methods they want as long as they conform to FTC and FCC requirements.

How come you don't express the same disdain for all the credit card companies that advertise on TV and radio? Thanks to a loophole in the consumer credit protection laws enacted by our wonderful Congress, the credit card companies can now jack up the interest rate on your outstanding balance and their is no cap or limit. So if you are paying off a purchase from last year...a purchase you made when the interest rate was let's say 7.5%, your credit card company can now change those terms and charge you 25%, 30% or more on that same money. That's akin to a loan shark changing your repayment terms after you've borrowed the money.

 

[BRNout]

It deeply troubles me that Gold-Line is on Christian radio stations. They're merely hucksters and the personalities that sell their souls to do their bidding are merely partners in crime. josh

Why should you be troubled or surprised? Seems like a perfect match.

The reason it is so unseemly that these hosts are pitching gold to their audiences is that these hosts (especially Beck) are constantly setting the stage of paranoia ro do with the economy and our monitary system. What better way to further persuade people to buy gold than to cast doubt on our financial system(s) day after day?

GOLD to the rescue!

In this age of conscienceless talkradio, why would you be surprised?

LMFAO!!! ;D ;D

You honestly believe that talk radio is the reason that gold is increasing in price by leaps and bounds?

Surely, it has nothing to do with the immense national debt that we've racked up where our president and congress have created a larger deficit in 10 months than every other annual deficit in national history COMBINED? Or that the current Fed chief is allowing the dollar to sink in value and its perceived stability has been called into question by world financial markets?

No, it's Glenn Beck's fault! He's one hell of a powerful guy, I must say - singlehandedly pumping up gold prices by 20% in 6 months.

Honest to God, we're never going to get anywhere in this country until a sizable percentage of the population gets a clue and drops the partisan BS. You may not like conservative talk radio, but it's simply opinion - they're not sacrificing babies to an altar or controlling the global economy in some vast right-wing conspiracy (though I honestly wish the latter comment WAS true right about now). Heaven forbid that conservative talkers should dare point out the ugly truths about our economy, which is about as sturdy as a house of cards right about now. And before you go off on how they're just ripping Obama out of "hatred", Beck was all over Bush about the same thing 18 months ago. And he was right.

As for Goldline's ads on such shows, the audiences that these platforms can deliver are an excellent match for a group like Goldline. Generally male and 40+ years in age. And, politically conservative (by and large) so they may well be pessimistic about a lot of what's going on in the financial markets. In other words, the key group that would actually invest in gold.

Hmmm, radio connects an advertiser with their marketplace. Someone call the cops!

 

[radioray]

"Thanks to a loophole in the consumer credit protection laws enacted by our wonderful Congress, the credit card companies can now jack up the interest rate on your outstanding balance and their is no cap or limit."

The biggest fault lies with the Supreme Court.

Banking deregulation begins

Before credit cards could really catch on, banks had to figure out a way to get around interest rate constraints imposed by interstate banking laws.

These laws prohibited banks in one state from lending money to people in another. States set their own interest rate ceilings, so an out-of-state bank couldn't lend at their own higher rates to another state's citizens.

In 1978, a Supreme Court ruling in the case of Marquette National Bank of Minneapolis v. First of Omaha Service Corp. changed that. The result: Nationally chartered banks could charge people in other states the interest rate set in the bank's home state. Like miners to California during the gold rush, big banks flocked to states that had no cap on interest rates.

"It (the Marquette ruling) allowed banks to become national issuers of cards with more or less uniform interest rates, and allowed banks to set up shop in Delaware or South Dakota, where there are no limitations on interest rates," says Evans.

This step toward deregulation, combined with liberalized interest rates, resulted in the expansion of credit, he adds.

http://www.bankrate.com/finance/financial-literacy/the-evolution-of-credit-cards-3.aspx

 

[radioray]

"Surely, it has nothing to do with the immense national debt that we've racked up where our president and congress have created a larger deficit in 10 months than every other annual deficit in national history COMBINED?"

That is simply not true.

Obama has added around 1.5 trillion to the deficit which was, till now, about 10 trillion dollars (and now the debt ceiling will be raised to around 12 or 13 trillion). 1.5 million is less than 10 million.

Note, I am rounding off (and up) the numbers for simplicity, so they are not 100% correct to the last hundred billion or so.

 

[jerry367]

LMFAO!!! ;D ;D

You honestly believe that talk radio is the reason that gold is increasing in price by leaps and bounds?

Surely, it has nothing to do with the immense national debt that we've racked up where our president and congress have created a larger deficit in 10 months than every other annual deficit in national history COMBINED? Or that the current Fed chief is allowing the dollar to sink in value and its perceived stability has been called into question by world financial markets?

No, it's Glenn Beck's fault! He's one hell of a powerful guy, I must say - singlehandedly pumping up gold prices by 20% in 6 months.

I never said he's impacting the gold market. I just think he's BADLY exploiting his core audience by alarming them with exagerrated info and then capitalizing on the "solution".

As for Goldline's ads on such shows, the audiences that these platforms can deliver are an excellent match for a group like Goldline. Generally male and 40+ years in age. And, politically conservative (by and large) so they may well be pessimistic about a lot of what's going on in the financial markets. In other words, the key group that would actually invest in gold.

Hmmm, radio connects an advertiser with their marketplace. Someone call the cops!

Speaking of cops....that last bit from you is quite the COPOUT. Where is your evidence that those who are responding to the gold ads were/are "the key group that would actually invest in gold"? And even if that statement was 100% true, it's OK that he scares them and then steers them toward a *great solution*?

COPOUT.

Appealing to his core audience's paranoia to sell marked-up gold is slimey. If you are truly non-partisan in you opinion here, you'll admit that.

 

[dmargalotti]

And even if that statement was 100% true, it's OK that he scares them and then steers them toward a *great solution*?

Scare tactics are used to sell MANY products and services. Crap, how many women are worried about osteoperosis thanks to Sally Field? The only reason for holding Beck to a different standard would be because of your own partisan politics.

 

[BRNout]

"Surely, it has nothing to do with the immense national debt that we've racked up where our president and congress have created a larger deficit in 10 months than every other annual deficit in national history COMBINED?"

That is simply not true.

Obama has added around 1.5 trillion to the deficit which was, till now, about 10 trillion dollars (and now the debt ceiling will be raised to around 12 or 13 trillion). 1.5 million is less than 10 million.

Note, I am rounding off (and up) the numbers for simplicity, so they are not 100% correct to the last hundred billion or so.

It's an exaggeration, I'll admit, but not that far off at all. Compare Obama's $1.5 Trillion deficit (and that's only 10 month's worth) to previous years' deficits (and don't get confused with the national debt which involves other things). If you do that, it looms very large indeed. Here's the CBO historical budget data for the period between 1968 and 2007:

http://www.cbo.gov/budget/data/historical.pdf

Stick "1500" in the last column (for '09) and see how it compares with the others. Last year's (2008's) was $455 Billion. So, Obama is clearly kicking serious tail when it comes to working up a big bill.

Speaking of cops....that last bit from you is quite the COPOUT. Where is your evidence that those who are responding to the gold ads were/are "the key group that would actually invest in gold"? And even if that statement was 100% true, it's OK that he scares them and then steers them toward a *great solution*?

COPOUT.

Appealing to his core audience's paranoia to sell marked-up gold is slimey. If you are truly non-partisan in you opinion here, you'll admit that.

Copout? Odd choice of words and not even an accurate choice. You may dispute my comment, but it's not a "copout" which would be making some lame excuse. All I was doing was stating a fact.

If Goldline doesn't sell to men over 45, please tell me who their favored demographic is? Dispute my comment in an intelligent way rather than making outlandish and inappropriate remarks about why it's somehow farcical. Honestly, what sorts of individuals would be interested in buying gold? Should Goldline drop Beck's show and advertise on MTV and have Ryan Seacrest as a spokesman? Gee what fools they are to run ads on FNC, Bloomberg and CNN too.

As for your comment about "paranoia," I don't see it. If you knew anything about where the global economy was headed, you would never have worded your commentary in this way. Precious metals have been on the rise for about 24 months now. Whether Goldline's fees are fair is one thing: caveat emptor on that one. But selling gold based on documented uncertainties in the marketplace is clearly legitimate. If anyone is allowing their partisanship to blind them, it's you.

Puhleeeeeze!

 

[jerry367]

As for your comment about "paranoia," I don't see it. If you knew anything about where the global economy was headed, you would never have worded your commentary in this way. Precious metals have been on the rise for about 24 months now. Whether Goldline's fees are fair is one thing: caveat emptor on that one. But selling gold based on documented uncertainties in the marketplace is clearly legitimate. If anyone is allowing their partisanship to blind them, it's you.

Puhleeeeeze!

Here we go. Yet another Beck denier. Fact is, Glenn Beck caters to the most paanoid people out there. He routinely floats conspiracy and doomsday scenarios. He regularly either explicitly or implicitly states that the world financial system, particularly our own, is on death's door......NOW time for a GOLD commerical!

If you cannot see this, you are quite obviously partisan beyond repair. I don't really care how right or left Beck is---or for that matter how loony he comes off. I do resent the fact that this guy sets the stage of paranoia and then exploits the fears that he has bolstered in people. It's BS and you know it. I don't give a rat's rear end if you think Sally Field is doing the same thing. This is sleezy and Beck, irrespective to ideology, is the most despicable type of carnival barker.

 

[dmargalotti]

The point of the thread according to the original post was about Goldline and their practice of using conservative talk show hosts (including Beck) as pitchmen. The OP pointed out the investing in gold was a ripoff because there was a 30% mark up that would make it very hard to get a return on your investment.

Our friend Jerry for some reason though seems bent on making it a referendum on Glenn Beck. I don't watch Beck or Sean or any talking head for that matter. Nor am I swayed by celebrity endorsements of products. But Glenn Beck or Sally Field or anyone else for that matter are doing exactly what they are paid to do. You may not like them. You may not like the pitch. You may not like the product. So...don't watch...don't listen...and don't buy.

 

[BRNout]

Let's put it this way: I've listened to Beck many times and often find him entertaining. I have thought for quite a while that gold is a good investment (and it has been recently). And, I have heard thousands of ads of Goldline. Yet I have never been tempted to utilize their services. Somehow I manage to figure out that buying gold is far from a sure thing and that Goldline doth try too hard.

Clearly, I recognize that Glenn Beck is being paid to endorse Goldline. Even though I like Beck's show, I don't know him and I don't know Goldline. Even though I may agree with some political sentiments that Beck espouses, there's a difference between that and blindly following him with my hard earned money. Again, this all comes down to caveat emptor (buyer beware). If you're so dumb as to be taken in so easily and to plunk down that amount of money without exploring your other options, you probably deserve to be fleeced. Hence I don't agree with Jerry one bit here. An ad is an ad. I don't take Boniva either, for that matter....

 

[pocket-radio]

Advertising on radio or tv can create desire and educate. However, consumers, have the responsibility to think and research their buying decisions! duh..

 

[adma]

PT Barnum's credo was "there's a sucker born every minute"--and thus North American-style mass entertainment was born.

But remember that by "sucker", he meant "the sucker in all of us". There's a difference between the Barnum-style "sucker" and the fool.

Look at it this way: Coca-Cola was for suckers; Hadacol was for fools. Steve Jobs is for suckers; Nigerian spam is for fools.

There were two moments in which radio mastered the art of catering to the sucker in all of us: when it established the template for mass broadcast network entertainment in the 1930s and 1940s; and then, after largely ceding said template to television in the 1950s, when it rode the rails of the rock revolution. And the latter may have been in part accidental, knowing what we know now about machinations behind rock radio and pop-chart success--but its rep was enough to legitimize talk radio's blossoming as a de facto "new rock radio" in the 1990s.

Back then, Snapple was a perfect case of Rush Limbaugh--the ex-rock-radio-DJ-- catering to the sucker in all of us. But over time, the Snapples were crowded out by the get-rich-quick and colon-blow and retro-goat-gland pathos; while audiences with over-double-digit IQs came to be more discerning about what they were being suckered into. For these people, formulae which worked in the 70s and 80s no longer fit the bill in the 00s.

Thus today, radio relies upon a degraded remnant demo of fools. And thus, Glenn Beck and Goldline.