Pest Cures (natural pest solutions book) – A Marketing Review
There’s a trail of ants in the kitchen.
Mosquitoes keep flying into your home through the tears in your window screens.
Cockroaches are crawling up your drains, making themselves at home in your kitchen and bathroom.
The neighbors’ kids keep running through your yard, screaming, yelling, and generally acting as if they own the place.
When it comes to common pests found inside and around the home, what are some safer and more natural ways of eliminating them? Chemicals can be too expensive, controversial, and somewhat dangerous around pets. Hiring an exterminator usually gets the job done, but again you’re dealing with high costs and the usage of chemicals. I can flatten a mouse with a brick or thick textbook, but that just takes care of one mouse and not its mousy companions. The family’s dog can keep making “deposits” in the common paths of the neighbors’ kids, but again you need to keep feeding said pet so that the “deposits” remain both fresh and numerous.
Are there effective and cheap ways to eliminate ants, roaches, spiders, flies, mosquitoes, and other common household bugs, all without using potentially harmful chemicals or methods?
What’s this? A book about doing just that, eliminating the bugs by using common stuff around the house? Really?
Pest Cures website — www.PestCures.com
Dr. Myles Bader’s Natural Solutions to Things That Bug You! is a BOOK that claims to reduce, prevent or eliminate common household bugs, all with using common ingredients found around your home.
Let’s take a closer look at the Pest Cures TV commercial (found at the product’s website — www.PestCures.com) and see how it’s being advertised to us, the general public.
Pest Cures TV commercial – They’re coming to get you, Barbra!
The Pest Cures TV commercial begins with some scary shots of spiders, roaches and a couple of mice. The spider and roaches that we see aren’t the small and generally harmless ones normally found around the house. No, the ones in this advertisement are even scarier. The spider looks really creepy and those roaches look like they’re ready for battle.
While these are very photogenic and probably do a great job with scaring squeamish people, shots of normal bugs could have worked just as well. I imagine that the same squeamish people who see an enlarged picture of an ordinary cockroach or house spider would be just as likely to pay attention to a commercial that has an exaggerated version of it.
Pest Cures TV commercial – Don’t bother researching on the Internet. Just read about it in a book.
After showing some creepy insects and a couple of rodents, the advertisement jumps into the product. According to the TV commercial, Dr. Bader’s Natural Solutions to Things That Bug You! is “. . . the must-have guide to easy pest solutions!” That statement seems a bit ludicrous considering that we’re in the Internet Age, a time period where Internet access is widely available, many locations offer free access, and most people with more than a handful of brain cells know how to search the Internet for solutions to problems.
Pest Cures TV commercial – You’re telling me that there are other ways of keeping away mice apart from getting a cat, setting traps, or keeping a clean house?
Following the quick and brief introduction to the Natural Solutions to Things That Bug You! book we’re shown a few examples of how to deal with common pests. For example, the TV commercial tells us to use bay leaves to stop ants, and use liquid peppermint in a cotton ball to stop mice.
Pest Cures TV commercial – Kill roaches dead!
The Pest Cures TV commercial then gives us a teaser for how to deal with cockroaches. We see somebody pour a liquid into a pan, and then we see some dead roaches on the bottom of the pan, but we don’t know exactly what happened apart from several roaches sacrificing their life for the making of this advertisement. Or they’re fake roaches used for demonstration purposes only. Beats me. They do look dead though in the pan.
The question here is, is this the only solution in the Natural Solutions to Things That Bug You! book for dealing with roaches?
Anybody who’s dealt with roaches knows that simply killing the cockroaches isn’t enough. Like ants, you need the roaches to take bait back to their lair so that the other roaches will be poisoned and hopefully die a painful and horrific death, spending their last few moments in agony and wishing that they never trespassed inside of your home.
Showing a few dead roaches in a pan doesn’t sell the product. It only makes you wonder if the book contains something useful such as PREVENTING roaches and stopping the infestation.
Pest Cures TV commercial – I will wave this can of pesticide, spray a cloud of chemicals, and make all the bugs disappear! Ha, ha, ha, ha!
Up next is the obligatory shot of a woman covering her eyes and mouth while spraying a cloud of “dangerous” pesticides. Notice how the “dangerous pesticides” is the villain here and not so much the pests themselves. As we know, pesticides continue selling rather well because they work when they’re used correctly. That’s a working solution. That’s exactly what the Pest Cures TV commercial does NOT want you to do.
The name of the game here is selling the book which allegedly tells you safe and natural ways to rid your home of the bugs. Thinking of using cans of pesticide or setting off a bug bomb? Don’t do that according to this advertisement. Remember that pesticides are dangerous! They kill bugs!
Pest Cures TV commercial – Hey, I saw that creepy bug underneath the toilet seat last night!
And what are you supposed to purchase to help rid your stinking, nasty home of its insect infestation? The Natural Solutions to Things That Bug You! book. That’s right! As we see in this part of the commercial, reading the Natural Solutions to Things That Bug You! book can be a fun and social event. It may even inspire some ideas for dinner. Crickets cooked in a frying pan and then dipped in chocolate? Mmmmm, very tasty!
Pest Cures TV commercial – When storing spices, always keep the labels facing the rear of the cabinet.
The Pest Cures advertisement strongly suggests that several (or many) of the natural remedies to insect control can be found in your spice cabinet. It’s amusing how all the spice containers are turned around so we don’t clearly see the McCormick labels. Two words: product placement.
Pest Cures TV commercial – I will take this orange and smash the fleas one by one!
The advertisement switches into educational mode again and we learn that an orange can be used to help keep fleas off a dog. I wonder if I can search the Internet for that kind of information . . .
Pest Cures TV commercial – Use a dryer sheet to tuck the bed bugs into their death beds.
We also learn that supposedly dryer sheets can help keep away bed bugs, and a spray solution (not mentioned what’s inside the spray bottle) can help keep away spiders. Of course, the commercial does not mention which spiders it’ll help keep away. They’re just arachnids in general. These are just teasers designed to spike your curiosity and want to purchase the Natural Solutions to Things That Bug You! book. Or search for information on the Internet.
Pest Cures TV commercial – Insects beware! You’ve been listed for termination!
The Pest Cures commercial shows a brief listing of some of the pests discussed in the Natural Solutions to Things That Bug You! book. Do you notice something in common with all the pests in the listing? They’re all insects. What happened to the mouse example that was discussed earlier in the advertisement? Are mice NOT included in this book?
Pest Cures TV commercial – Should I really use mole & gopher poison to take care of my cockroach problem?
Remember that chemicals and pesticides are evil. They’ll kill living organisms. OMG! How horrific! How terrible!
Pest Cures TV commercial – The exterminator costs how much money?!?
Here we have a classic scare tactic showing the extremely high costs one could be paying to an exterminator. Notice how the price is in bold, a larger font, and slightly off from the rest of the text on the “invoice”. We know that the costs of such services can be expensive (Hey, those service people need to pay their bills and feed their families, too!), but how much money would an average home really cost to be sprayed by an extermination company?
The commercial claims that the Natural Solutions to Things That Bug You! book can claim all of our pest problems for just one low price. That’s right. It clearly states “all of your pest problems” but it’s obvious that the book is only referring to insects. That kind of wording can easily lead to very dissatisfied customers if they need pest information for something NOT covered in the book.
Pest Cures TV commercial – No as-seen-on-TV offer is complete without some sort of freebie.
But wait! There’s more!
If we take part of the super special promotion, we can also get the companion book, Natural Solutions to Bigger Pests, for a very low price. They’re only going to charge us the cost of shipping for the companion book. Isn’t that awesome, or what?
Pest Cures TV commercial – What if the black bears are smarter than your average bears?
As one would expect, the commercial states that the Natural Solutions to Bigger Pests book is for the larger critters, those bigger than insects. Notice that this second book clearly states mice despite the earlier example that made it believe like mice problems were covered in the first book. Either this is sloppy editing or the marketers are trying to imply that the first book covers more topics than in reality.
What’s amusing is that the voice-over states that “. . . this book tackles every animal pest from the smallest squirrel to the biggest bear!”
First of all, mice are normally smaller than squirrels. They should have used mice at the small end of the scale of pests and not squirrels.
Second, if you’re having problems with the “biggest bear” (Kodiaks and polar bears), then you’re most likely going to need more help than what’s addressed in this book. If you live in an area that has the threat of bears, especially the biggest of bears, chances are very good that you already know the proper safety precautions to keeping the bears away from your home and family.
And third, never ever use terms such as “every” unless the book covers every absolute pest known to homes. If you don’t cover all pests, including snakes and lizards, then it’s false advertising and only leads to trouble with consumers and the BBB.
Pest Cures TV commercial – You, like, save a lot of money and chemicals are, like, dangerous and stuff.
Up next we have a “testimonial” where a lady tells us that not only do we save a ton of money by NOT hiring an exterminator, you also don’t have to use those scary and dangerous chemicals. I’m sure the pest control companies love to hear comments like that. Besides, I bet I know an even cheaper and better way to learn how to solve those same exact problems. So, ha! Take that, you biased testimonial.
Pest Cures TV commercial – The BIG promotion complete with a second book.
The ending of the Pest Cures TV commercial has the big promotion for the Natural Solutions to Things That Bug You! book. If we take advantage of the promotion we can also get the second book, Natural Solutions to Bigger Pests, for free. All we have to do is pay for the extra shipping and handling.
The GRAND TOTAL of the Pest Cures 2-book promotion comes to $24.97 ($10.99 + $6.99 S&H + $6.99 S&H for the “free” book).
Of course, we’re talking about physical books here. Amazon.com also sells the Natural Solutions to Things That Bug You! hardcover book for $10.99. The Kindle edition of the same book is listed at $10. Do read the comments though if you wish to purchase the Kindle version. Apparently many people are not thrilled with that format of the book.
FINAL THOUGHTS
As it was stated earlier in this article, we’re living in the Internet Age. With the widespread availability of Internet access and the ease of searching for key terms, you can research virtually any topic. But you have to know how to search online to make it the most beneficial for you.
With that being said, it’s surprising seeing TV commercials for books such as this one. What information could possibly be in a book like this that people cannot easily research online?
Take the example of using an orange to help prevent fleas on dogs. In less than ten seconds I did an Internet search and found two websites (here and here) with what looked like credible information on that very subject. Of course, you need to further research anything you find online before testing it in person, especially if it involves your pets or it creates a potentially volatile situation with certain household chemicals.
It doesn’t help matter that the website for the Pest Cures promotion looks a little bit suspicious. First of all, the website misnames the Natural Solutions to Things That Bug You! book at least twice near the bottom of the page. The website also claims that the book is allegedly in large print and has over 400 pages of content. When I hear about a hardcover book only having 400 pages but also having large print, I’m concerned that the book doesn’t really have that much content. “Large print” is NOT a selling factor UNLESS this product is being directed towards seniors or those stereotypical people with poor eyesight.
Another problem with the Pest Cures’s website is that the site itself is almost useless. There’s no real information about the product, the “testimonials” have fake written all over them, and the F.A.Q. only mentions problems with ordering the product. When you throw in a few grammar and capitalization errors, it’s a very sloppy website as a whole. You’ll find more information about the Natural Solutions to Things That Bug You! book in the comments section on Amazon.com than you will on the product’s website.
There is a plus though IF you were to order this product through the company’s website. The fine print mentions that you’ll also receive a $15 gift card for other as-seen-on-TV products through the Telebrands corporation. If that’s correct and there’s no catch for the offer, then the marketers need to do a better job with the promotion.
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All of the Pest Cures TV commercial images were screenshots of a TV commercial currently available on the product’s website. For more product information, please visit the company’s website at www.PestCures.com.
RellimZone.com is not affiliated with Pest Cures.