Marketing Paranoia: Intelius.com « Tikun Olam-תיקון עולם: Make the World a Better Place

Marketing Paranoia: Intelius.com

You are currently browsing comments. If you would like to return to the full story, you can read the full entry here: “Marketing Paranoia: Intelius.com”.

Tags: new-york-times

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 9th, 2007 at 1:03 AM and is filed under Children & Family, Politics & Society. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

3 Responses to “Marketing Paranoia: Intelius.com”

A reader says:

January 17, 2007 at 6:49 PM

There are many reasons to dislike Intelius — you cannot find a coverage description *anywhere* on their site, and some states basically don’t release criminal information online. You’d never know it from visiting Intelius. New York is basically one of them, so it’s ironic that they are running the ads in the New York Times.

That said, I would say it is appropriate to do a background check on a nanny. Your kids are vulnerable.

Reply
Richard Silverstein says:

January 17, 2007 at 9:32 PM

I should make clear that I agree with you that it is certainly appropriate to do background checks on nannies. I’ve learned as a parent that it’s pretty silly & pointless to criticize the choices and decision-making of other parents. Everyone has their own set of priorities & if you feel more secure having done one–by all means do it. It’s hard enough being a good parent secure in yr sense that you are doing everything you can for yr children. If this adds to yr comfort level, then by all means.

But what I object to is folks like Intelius preying on parent’s fears to make them feel that criminals will prey on them & their children if they DO NOT use Intelius’ services. That’s reprehensible marketing practice & they deserve some kind of “bad taste” award for it.

Reply
Charlie Davidson says:

August 5, 2009 at 10:29 PM

I am also against the way they advertise through fear, but background checks are also very important when getting nannies to watch our children.. it may sound paranoid but it’s better to be safe than sorry.. saw this video on youtube about a couple hiring a wanted convict.. well it is sad that i am also victim of this fear driven commercial tactic.. but nevertheless i would never sacrifice my childrens safety just because of my pride and ideals..

Reply