When I was a teenager shooting hoops one of the most embarrassing shots was when you would shoot the ball and miss everything. Forget about making a basket, these shots wouldn’t even touch the rim or the backboard. Everyone would laugh at you while shouting “Nice airball!”
I don’t shoot hoops anymore for entertainment, but see airballs everyday online.
For me, these come in the form of ads on podcasts, YouTube, Amazon and Reddit. I get fed a steady stream of ads for mattresses, sleep programs, clothing, bed linens, vitamin waters, car insurance, cell phone service and a variety of other apps, programs and consumer items.
99% of the time I have no interest whatsoever in what is being advertised. On the rarest of occasions, I will lookup a company or product out of curiosity. Every time I am dumbfounded at the prices. Usually, the prices are “hidden” and require some effort to discover. The majority of the time, they require registration, app downloads or email verification first.
First … f**k that. If a company is hiding their price, I’m gone.
Second, when I do see the prices, I cannot believe how high they are. Everything is at least 2x (and often 3-4x) what I would pay.
Now maybe I’m a cranky old man with unrealistic expectations from price points set in the 1980s and 90s (I am).
But, these companies are advertising to me. I’m not out there searching for their products and services.
It’s a swing and and a miss. Entirely.
Or, put another way, an airball.