The Gorilla Workout helped me transform my body

[Permalink]

1 Like

Gorilla workout is no monkey business!

so, what is the REAL cost … I don’t even see a free version … it starts with 99 cents … but there are TONS of in-app purchases … sounds a bit like those belly fat banners one should never click …

1 Like

Really? That sucks. What, are “squats” in the DLC?

1 Like

Sensible diet and exercise makes people fit, look better. News at 11.

2 Likes

DLC?

SERIOUSLY?!

3 Likes

For the record:

A) No. Any kind of sponsored content at BB would be clearly marked ‘ADVERTISEMENT.’

B) “You wrote about something that can be bought, which I don’t like, and therefore you were paid to write about it” is stupid.

8 Likes

3 Likes

I haven’t ever bought any of the in-app stuff. Just the original 99 cents. You get a series of ascending workouts, which are fine with me. I have no idea what’s behind the “unlock 100 pushups” box. Probably an ascending series of exercises to get you to do 100 pushups?

Down loadable content.

For the record, the post looked so much like a sponsored post to me I had to do a double take, well actually triple take, to tell whether or not it was sponsored content, and even then I wasn’t sure.

Don’t blame the reader, take a look at the post and ask yourself if it has the form and style of a sponsored post.

5 Likes

I’d also appreciate more insight as to exactly what the “in-app purchases” are. Google Play says they range in price from $0.99 - $8.99 per item. That’s quite the range.

Can you just spend $0.99 and get a daily exercise? It sounds like it but it’s not clear to me with all the “in-app purchases.”

The point is that false, knee-jerk quips or accusations of outright corruption tend to obscure more reasonable criticism of the tone and detail of product reviews. To put it another way: when they pay for it, the people who write it are very good at avoiding the stylistic cues you’re talking about. It all serves to make genuine enthusiasm seem toxic.

2 Likes

I have to agree. Product reviews are perfectly appropriate, and some products merit positive reviews, but stylistically, this felt like an advertising testimonial, not a review.

2 Likes

A dip bar? A chin-up bar? What else? Some kind of stepping things? Plus I can tell you right now I can’t do much in the way of unassisted chin-ups (although I can do dips) so what does that entail?

Nonsense. Marketing puffery has a style. It rarely, if ever, criticizes the product, it has to follow corporate style guides, include buzzwords and calls to action and whatnot. Sure, there are differences and exceptions, but certainly not enough to merit your claim that if it sounds sponsored it must not be because marketers are just soooo good that ordinary BB readers could never spot them.

If this post looks like marketing to most people then you really should consider that the issue is on BBs end rather than claim BB readers are too stupid to know what marketing generally looks like.

4 Likes

From @PeterVonNacken’s post above, it looks like you can buy a bunch of different series – 100 pushups, “fat burner”, etc. – for 99¢ each.

(Although I didn’t think it was a paid review at all, not mentioning things like that is what @Matthew_Urso et al are referring to when they say it sounds sponsored.)

3 Likes

this definitely triggered my “paid advertisement” sense. something about the way it’s written…

i’m not accusing boingboing of anything here. the fact that the post didn’t say paid advertisement, coming from boing boing, means to me that it isn’t one. i know you guys have great integrity and i trust boing boing as being pretty upfront and straightforward.

i’m just chiming in that it “feels” like it was one. a kind of “know it when i see it” thing :confused:

2 Likes

I was thinking for that kind of money, I could (almost) get the “Charles Atlas” course.