When I am trying to decide whether to buy something or to visit a city or an attraction, I hardly ever read the company’s own blurb about the product or paid product placement in magazines.
I tend to read customer reviews, take the ones at the extreme end of the spectrum with a pinch of salt, and go with the majority. There is nothing like word of mouth recommendation about a product. In many many cases, if people have paid hard-earned money for something they are far more likely to give an honest review than someone who received something in return for a review.
One thing that is funny about Amazon though is that sometimes the reviews for the product are far more interesting than the product itself.
Take this one for a sex swing (!). Someone recommends it for washing large dogs! I probably shouldn’t have but I broke out in peals of laughter at the thought of the neighbours seeing this person’s Saint Bernards swinging from a tree while being washed!
Then you have this fantastic series of reviews for the Bic pen designed specially for women ‘Bic for Her’ – seriously, whose bright idea was that anyway?
A banana slicer
Three-Wolf t shirt
How to Avoid Huge Ships
And then we have Veet for Men Hair Removal Gel Cream (read at your own risk)