Yes, well who knows. Abu Ghirab could be a lot more fun than Abu Ghraib.

thanks, greg.  i appreciate your generous gesture.  maybe i can return the favor some day?  like, i’ll lobby to keep bea arthur out of the role of the lovably drunk gay grandmother in the desperate spin-off, “MOMS.”

I have a special fondness for Twin Peaks, especially the log lady. But I also like 7th Heaven cause I can watch it with my kid. So I yell at the screen a lot - but I also have conversations about anything from huffing to hermaphrodites sparked by the stuff that goes on.

You can learn valuable things from stupid people as well as stupid shows.

Thanks for previewing DADS and sparing us. Sadly, based on a lot of the shows that last for a few years it may be a huge hit. You have my sympathy.

My son is hooked on Full House.  (Possibly he is illegitimate).  Although he has no idea, there is probably something deep inside of him that is already waiting for the entire first season of Dads to be released on DVD.

How come no one ever sends me a video tape of a lousy sitcom to critique?  I’m so jealous.

I wish someone had sent me a tape of “Committed” before it aired.  I could have saved us all a lot of heartache and pain.  Gutwrenching, mind-numbing physical pain.

“..i don’t mean to get all Red State on you..”

excellent.

Dude, way to take one for the team.  We all owe you one.  That sounds horrid.  (But I secretly hope they send you more to entertain us.  Your commentary was far better than whatever they were trying to do!)

I know I’m old and slow, BUT: did you mean you didn’t like it?

I got the same thing in the mail. They don’t care about the show- they wanted your opinion on the advertising. But to make you watch that half hour to give your opinion on face wash is just wrong. 

I did the same thing a few years ago and I was pretty excited.  I do not recall the name of the sitcom, but it starred Ralph Macchio (coincidence?).  I was pretty excited and watched it seriously to give my opinion where I thought it counted (Like I really thought Ralph’s character should be called Ralph and not Mike), but when they called me up to do the verbal survey, they only asked me about the commercials, which I did not pay any attention to.  DAMN TRICKSTERS!

Yes, there were some product questions, but there were also several questions about the show (I even left a few out on my post). Seems silly to ask about the show at all if it’s not part of the research.

dude, you’re happy to see William Shatner as anybody other than James T. Kirk?

Denny Crane rules.

I’m with Greg. Actually I prefer to see William Shatner *only* as someone other than Kirk…

I bet the German accent was something Rue improved on the spot and it killed.  She’s a genius like that.

I did the same thing several years ago, got the same sucky pilot in the mail that you got. What they really are going to ask you about is what you remember about the commercials. I barely remembered them. And here I thought I was getting a first glimpse at some new show. 

Yes, of course, wouldn’t it make so much sense for kids to see a thick-German-accented counselor that they can hardly understand?  You had me at the “it stopped being funny about 10 years after WW2.” I laughed outloud at that.  Sadly, this show will probably air.  You should start a betting pool.

As the past president of the East Tennessee Chapter of the Rue McClanahan Fan Club, I ask you to please cease and desist with your public criticism of one of our most revered television sitcom icons.  Please do like the rest of us do.  Criticize her privately.

And were the commercials about cat-food?  Last year, I watched that episode and then answered 10,000 questions on the phone about the cat-food commercials. 

Mhhh, dont ya think that you might get some legal stuff for posting this shit?, its getting quite popular this days.

Whether they are doing market research on the show or the commercials (or both) is a moot point. Greg is nobody’s target audience. He’s the worst kind of consumer: smart and cheap. I mean, uh, thrifty.
I’m pretty sure that a commercial featuring Buffy and 7of9 spanking each other in a giant pool of beer couldn’t convince Greg to buy something he didn’t need.

I wonder how much C. Thomas got paid for that…

Yeah, I’m probably one of those dads and even I don’t think its funny.

I went to high school with Jane in Sacramento.  I wondered what happened to her.  If they call it a “Pilot” why do so many of them crash?

Check out my blog...a few agents wearing dark glasses came to my home yesterday to say that I was funny.

... yes but did you like C Thomas Howell in The Outsiders? 

I KNOW YOU DID NOT JUST DIS MY GIRL RUE MCCLANAHAN, HOWARD!

I have always and will forever and ever love C. Thomas Howell.  Ponyboy.  All that’s green is gold man…

Thanks for taking one for the team, Greg.

Our daughter has also gotten addicted to Full House. THANKS, Nick at Night. We really, really appreciate you bringing back John Stamos with his Euromullet. It took me years to get visions of that hair out of my mind, YEARS. And now it’s being burned onto my brain again.

And did anyone ever really think Dave Coullier was funny? Anyone? Anyone?

At any rate I thought I would ask if it went something like this:

Hi my name is market research guy/gal from Audience Studies, We are a global survey research firm and let me ASSURE YOU we are NOT selling anything, we are simply interested in your opinion. Today we are inviting a select group of people to watch a special half hour program!

Are you in the 18-65 Age group?

So we know are survey includes people of all ages, can you please tell me your age?

Certain Television Programs Appeal to different groups of a people and the following questions help insure we represent as many people as possible.
*or someone may ask*
The following questions may be of a sensitive nature, but please remember that your responses are kept anonymous and are used for research purposes only.

Are you or is any member of your immediate family employed in:
(these are yes or no questions)

An Ad agency?
market research or market consulting?
A pet supply store or pet shop?
An animal shelter or kennel?
A pet food manufacturer, distributer or retailer?
Do you own a cat?

How many cats do you own?

Are you the primary decision maker and purchaseer regaurding which cat food and cat products are purchased for your cat(s)?

As you know there is dry cat food and wet cat food.

Have you purchased any brand of wet cat food in the past 2 weeks? (they must say yes or it will cut off)

Have you purchased any FANCY FEAST cat food in the past 2 weeks? (they must say yes)

How often do you purchase fancy feast?
once a week or more often, once every 2 or 3 weeks, once a month, once every 2-3 months, once every 4-6 months, once or twice a year, less than once per year or never????
How many cans of fancy feast cat food have you purchased in the past 3 months?
(you say 15)

In an average week, how many hours do you watch television?

How often do you watch situation comedies on tv, would you say once a week or more often, once every 2 or 3 weeks, once a month, less than once a month or never?

How often do you watch dramas on tv, would you say once a week or more often, once every 2 or 3 weeks, once a month, less than once a month or never?

The people that make and sponser TV shows are intersted in YOUR opinions, we would like to send you via courior or priority mail a video tape of a half hour program and ask you to watch it on Monday March 14th, We will then call you back on Tuesday March 15th to get your opinions, For participating in this survey we will enter your name into our month drawings for products and cash prizes worth $100 each. Every month we award 50 prizes. Will you watch this special TV show on Monday march 15th
(- sure)
I need a deffinate yes or no
(- yes)
Do you have a working VCR in your home?
(-yes)
Have you ever participated in a program study before?
(-no)
*From this point on depending on which research company is doing the survey they may or may not ask for a time range to call you back on Tuesday*

*Your street address is collected as they do not ship with USPS, but rather UPS ground in most cases, thus your name is actually never put on a mailing list*

*after getting address*

Please watch the tape on Monday march 14h, we will call you back on Tuesday march 15th at 4:20pm to get your opinions, on behalf of audience studies, thanks for your time and have a GREAT DAY.

***sound like something you might have done yet??***

*Now it is March 15th at 4:18pm respondent time*

* I=Interviewier, R=Respondent *

~~Ring Ring~

R: Hello
I: Hi is John Smith Availiable?
R: this is him
I: This is market researcher from Audience Studies, did you watch the special video preview of dads?
R: yes
I: Would you please get the video tape, program evaluation and yellow and green prize entry forms and bring them to the phone?
R: got em
I: Look on the label on the front of the video casette, on the lower right hand corner it says “tape” followed by a number, could you read me that number please?
R: 12398
I: when did you watch the program?
R: last night
I: how much of the program dads did you watch, all of it or some of it?
R: all of it
I: have you ever seen this episode of dads before?
R: no
I: when you finished watching the program, did you stop the tape when it said please stop tape here?
R: yes
I: did you fast forward the tape at any time during the commericals?
R: no
I: did you take notes on any of the commericals?
R: no
I: what was most memorable about the program?
** either we have a dumbass respondent or an intelligent one at this point **

R1: the lizzard
R2: Well I thought Rue mclanihan played a terrible role as a teacher or counselor, I actually thought the whole pilot was terrible and was curious as to why there were commercials every 3 minutes, But anyway memorable....I would say Rue McClanahan’s role as the teacher was done well, I did not appreciate her accent as it seemed somewhat inaccurate in my opinion
I: uh ok, we will have some more questions about the program a little later but since we are interested in peoples total viewing habbits we would like to ask you a FEW questions about the commercials, you may or may not remember them, in either case your name will still be entered in our monthly drawings for $100 prizes, during the program did you you see a commercial for grape juice
R: yes
I: what brand was that
R: welches
I: Did you see a commercial for ketchup?
R: yeah
I: was that a yes or no?
R: YES!!!!!
I: what brand was that?
R: HEINZ!!!
I: During the program did you see a commercial for a cat food product?
R: YES!!!!
I: what brand was that?
R: I have no idea
**if you do say yes here, it will add in about 30 extra questions, ie what can you remember about the commerical for fancy feast**

*Then....*
Now we would like to collect a few responses to your yellow and green entry forms, do you have the yellow form? have you filled out the yellow form? did you fill out the yellow form before or after you viewed the program? Please tell me your answer to product group c, product group k, product group q, please read me the 2 letters in the black box in the lower right hand corner on the back of the yellow form, at this point we would like to collect a few responses to your green form, do you have the green form? have you filled out the green form? did you fill it out before or after your viewed the program? please tell me your answer to product group CC, product group kk, product group mm, product group qq.....then.....

I: at this point I am going to read you a description of a commerical from the program, please stop me if I mention anything you recall seeing or hearing about the commerical when it was shown even if you mentioned it to me eariler. 

Did you see or hear any part of a commercial that showed a series of cats at a house. A male cat dressed a light-beige outfit told the other cat he was going to have a party. the other cat agreed. The cats run out of the house, going house to house gathering other cats. The commerical cuts away to a party scene with 30 cats in a living room. One male cat asks the female cat what she likes doing in her spare time, the female cat responds with I like to find tastey morsels in the garbage. The male cat then says. why dig thru trash when you can have new fancy feast, it has 18 essneanl viatmins and minreals and is optimized for cats like us. It is in a tasty forum and tastes like real fish and meat. The female cat says lets eat. the male cat runs toward the door but hits a table and falls down. The screen is cut away to black and the fancy feast logo was shown, did you see or hear any part of a commcial like this?
R: YES YES YES YES YES
I: Now I have some questions about some products you may or may not use.....wont go into this...but is around 100 questions or so
***15 minutes later***

I:Now we would like you to do something a little bit different, we would like you to watch a commercial at the end of the tape and I will ask you some questions, please play the tape, watch the commercial and your screen will tell you when to stop, please let me know when you are done.

*respondent puts tape in VCR watches the same commercial just mentioned above and stops it when it says “stop the tape and return to the telephone interviewer"*

R: ok I am done
I: which of the following best describes how likely you would be to buy fancy feast wet cat food premium, would you say you deffently would buy, probably would buy, might or might not buy probably would not buy or deffently not buy fancy feast wet cat food premium
R: probably would
***It goes on to ask several open ended questions where the interview types out everything the respondent says word for word:***

I: Please describe the commercial you saw as if you were talking to a friend
I: What was the one main idea of the commercial other than trying to get you to buy the product?
I: Aside from the main idea you mentioned, what other ideas were brought out in the commercial?
I: what did you like about the commercial

***several more like this, usually takes in the ballpark of 20 minutes for this section depending on the product or service being advertised***

(48 minutes and 380 questions later)
Now I have some questions about the program dads, overall would you rate dads excellent, very good, good, fair or poor?

How would you rate the storyline or concept of dads, excellent very good, good fair or poor?

If dads became a network series, would you make every effort to watch, watch depending on what else is on, watch only if someone else wanted to or deffinently not watch the program?

(note: none of these are actually entered into the computers)

Finally I have these last few questions to divide the inteveriews into groups

how many people in your house?

How many children do you have?

what are the ages of all your children and are they boys or girls?

What was the highest level of education you completed?

which of the following describes your total household income before taxes, less than 15,000, 15 but under 20, 20 but under 25, 25 to under 30, 30 to 35, 35 to 40, 45 to 50, 50 to 60, 60 to 70, 70 to 75, 75 to 100,000 or $100,000 or over.

which of the following best describes your ethnic or racial background? Asian or pacific islander, black or African American, Caucasian or white or Hispanic or Latino

On behalf of audience studies, thanks for your time, you have a GREAT DAY...click.....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

not sure if that made sense....

that was a lot of typing however.

questions comments?

Dude, I’ve already had people from your company email me about this post.  I get it--it’s about the commercials.  The point is, I got to make fun of C. Thomas Howell and that’s all that really matters.

I just did one of these damn things a few weeks ago too. I feel really cheated. And the show sucked. One of the things I did catch was at the end of the show, the credits cite the show as being copyrighted in 1997. Sick.

If anyone has a copy of the tape that they took the magnet out of there are some of us that could use that.  I work for a company that does the phone calls for “audience studies”.  If anyone gets one that has read this take the magnet out and after you do the survey mail it to Bernett reseaches Moscow office we will love you forever and ever

Holy hell! I did the *same* one! And afterwards, I googled the show and found out that that pilot *did* actually air back in ‘97, and (as I’m sure you would have guessed anyway) did not get picked up.

However, I totally fucked up their followup call because it was really clear that it was about the ads (3 of the 4 ads were ones I’d seen before and the 4th one was done in crude line drawing, as though it was just a preliminary ‘proof’ for the ad & they were trying to decide whether to spend the money to make it or not).

So when they called to ask their questions, I said “Look, this isn’t the best time, and I know this is really about that one ad, so why don’t you skip all the fake questions & just ask me the real ones?”
The poor gal on the other end of the phone told me that that wasn’t possible, she had to ask all the questions.
I said “look, the point of the subterfuge was to see if the ad made an impression on me & I’ve already violated your experimental premise by figuring out what you’re really interested in. So either just ask me questions about the ad, or I’m going to have to recuse myself from the survey because a) I’d screw up your results and b) I don’t feel like having you waste an hour of my time when 10 minutes would suffice.”

I know, what a bitch, eh? But I felt it was fair payback for actually suffering through that piece of shit show…

Actually the other two dad’s were married, we just finished watching it, Howell was married to a super-model, the other guy was married to an angle that snores.

I thought it was decent.

Thanks for the spoilers, assmunch.  I was so AMPED to watch this tonight.  Now you’ve RUINED it.

:-D

Did you get any freebies from the prize entry forms?

Did you think it was weird that you were supposed to fill one of the prize entry forms before you watch the show and one after?

The tape erases itself...do you think it contains any mind-controlling aspects?  I think I’m going to get my other VCR out when we watch it and see if I can copy it as we watch.

I’ve received this tape today and of course found and removed that magnet before I played it (that ‘self-erasing’ part was just too tempting to resist). I watched it and they’re supposed to call me tomorrow. That’s going to be a lot of fun, with all the material I found here I suddenly remember my poor Aunt Neuhauser who lives in Bavaria, Germany… are they making fun of her?!!?!!!!

Only 1 of the dads was divorced and the birthday party was for a 5 year old.  Other than that, Greg pretty much nailed it.
It really didn’t matter.  The research was for the products shown in the commercials.
The TV pilot was probably killed a long time ago.

It’s a trap! Jesus, Mary and Joseph I succumbed to their awful situation-comedy awfulness too. Did I mention it was awful? While I don’t share your sentiment on Rue (I was one of those two Golden Girls fans you’ve probably heard rumors about.. that’s what I get for falling victim to a matriarchal family situation) why why oh why the german thing. We have to get rid of that episode before it gives someone a coronary.

This is a hoot. I just watched this last night… Oct 30, 2005. From the googling I’ve done, it sounds like this has been going on a long time. I’m not talking to them when they call.. feeling deceived, and don’t want to waste even more of my life with these people, LOL.

I agreed to do this, with a vague memory of having done a similar project years ago. When I got the tape, the show title, “Dads” sounded vaguely familiar - but it’s a pretty generic title. As soon as I put it on, I knew, somehow, it was the exact same pilot I had seen several years ago. The fuzzy quality of the tape, the hairstyles, etc., made me certain that it was several years old (and of course, the 1997 copyright at the end)!  I did work at an ad agency for a while, so I know it’s about the commercials, but it’s pretty lame trying to pass it off as a “new” pilot… yeesh. Looking forward to my phonecall tomorrow… maybe I’ll do what Maggie did.

My husband just got suckered into this as well. They’re still passing around Dads as if it were a new prospective pilot…

It’s funny but they never did call me for the follow-up. And I really would have liked to nail them on this!

I just got the tape yesterday Jan 3 2006. I remembered watching the show when it first aired. I thought it was just a couple years ago though. 1997 wow.

I just had to follow up on this. Even though the company never called me for follow-up questioning, I received a prize from them… a $100 Amex gift check. How about that????

I must say that this post (and even the comments, for the most part) were great and hilarious. I’ll definitely be back to read more…

As a trusted employee of Audience Studies I find this hilarious, and that many post script some guy posted is pretty much exactly what we say.  Sorry to have tricked you all!

I want to see Dads just to see how bad it is.  We’re not even allowed to see it since it may “bias the respondent’s answers” like it even matters.  From the people I’ve talked to though, it sounds goddawful.

I firmly believe that the person who calls to set up your “appointment” to watch the tape should ask you if you have 45 minutes to set aside… because this was by far the longest study I’ve ever participated in.

How long after you’ve handed in your results do you potentially receive prizes?

I came across your site as a result of someone who stumbled onto mine after googling “dads” and “audience studies.” I too had a similar experience and know the hardship of watching Rue Mclanahan perform in a role she will likely regret until the day she dies.  I think her accent was mainly so she wouldn’t seem as much like a Golden Girl, and yet, I couldn’t stop thinking Why is Blanche Devereaux talking this way Bad does bnot begin to describe this show.

Wow - this pilot is like the Energizer bunny.

I have to say, Rue McLanahan’s accent was absolutely terrible. She kept slipping between the barely German and the deep south.

They make so many pilots every year. Seems like they could have purchased a more up to date show to play. Guess they don’t have to worry about paying royalties with this one though.

I noticed that some of the commercials were for products that don’t exist yet - and others were in pre-production phases (like someone posted above). They were just sketches and so forth.

I haven’t gotten the questions about the show/commercials yet. That’s supposed to happen tomorrow. Looks like I’m going to be prepared!

I just did the “Dads” survey yesterday with Audience Studies.  Although I suspected the research was not really about the show, the rep did not ask me about any commercials, just lots of questions about Pantene hair products.  I didn’t even get a chance to tell her that I had MUTED all the commercials (although I diligently did not fast forward)!  After all, the instructions had told me to watch the show “wherever and however” I normally would.

After reading this post and having some time to think it over, I decided not to do the survey. They totally brought me into the project under false pretenses. I didn’t think that I should reward that behavior by fulfilling my end of the bargain.

Giving feedback on a pilot in production sounds cool. Giving free marketing information does not. My friend has been in some marketing focus groups and actually got PAID for it so…

Hello, my name is Sherry and I work for Ipsos Reid who does the dad surveys!! I apologize for the questions about products and such. And the fact that we keep on the phone for god knows how long. But you must admit it’s quite an experience, something different, and a good story at the end. Im only working there while being in university of become an architect. So be nice to us when we call everyone. If you aren’t interested tell us nicely, and be on your way. And the DO NOT CALL LIST is only for telemarketers, so dont throw that in our face, because we have an answer to everything, as we are trained to be. Were just either high school or university kids trying to make a living before we hit high in our career lives.But I must admit, even though i have never seen the video that we send you, the comments that we get back about it, range from I LOVE IT, to I WANT MY 30 MINUTES BACK!! Cheers!:)

I too received a phone call from Audience Studies ... but I haven’t had the dubious pleasure (?) of watching DADS.  While talking with the supposedly overworked/underpaid college student, I wondered if DADS was a brand new sitcom.  Ha!  From a response from above, the production was actually in 1997! 

I believe I can prepare my answers now (heh, heh) and be way ahead of August 15 when I am supposed to watch the tape.  Maybe I’ll just put vase of flowers on top of the tape and ponder the Supercluster in which the Milky Way galaxy is located.  After all, I only agreed to watch the tape, not actually view what is recorded ON the tape.

Dang, I just did this stupid survey.  I figured out it was about the products but did not have the wherewithal to stop the interviewer in her tracks.  I did manage to say that the acting was completely sucky 80s-sitcom style and that Rue McClanahan’s accent was ridiculous.  I did manage to say that I hate commercials and astrotravel when I watch them, so even with the one they made me watch AGAIN I could recall almost nothing moments later.  I did manage to say I didn’t do the booklets because I didn’t use any of the stupid products in them.  I did say I rewound because I didn’t believe a tape could be self-erasing.  But I did not jam the system, which I will forever regret.

Yeah, so you don’t actually have to take the tape apart to get the magnet off.  I realized that after I had it pretty much torn apart.  =/ Lift the flap on the tape up and look on the left hand side, where the tape goes back inside the cartridge to the empty roll.  There’s a piece of black tape holding a magnet in place right there.  If you so desire to be able to watch the program again (I just want to be able to show my bf, who’s away on a trip right now) it’s as easy as that.

My friend Steve worked for Audience Studies and Greg, they’ve verified everything you’ve said to be true. Ditto for the commentary thus far.

Some comments/advice of my own for your enjoyment.

It’s definitely a scam - they say they want your opinions on “a special half-hour program” but all they care about is the commercials and your buying habits for various products, like shampoo, tylenol or whatever crap their client pays them to get info on. When they call from Audience Studies to do the interview, they don’t even record half the answers you give about Dads, but EVERY answer is documented on the questions about the commercials. They poke and pry you for more detail about each answer, and always want you to say as much as possible.

When they call back to interview you, ask how long it’ll take. Betcha they won’t give you a straight answer. Some my buddy has done have taken OVER 2 HOURS, and the dumb shits actually do the survey.

If they asked you a ton of personal questions when they got your address, etc. to mail the tape, the interview afterward will be a bit shorter, maybe 45 minutes. But if it’s quick and they just ask your age, how often you watch tv, then your address, brace yourself for a 90 minute grilling about the program (88 minutes of which are about the commercials - seriously).

You think you’ll win in the prize drawings? It may be true that they give away 50 prizes each month, but what you don’t realize is that they do THOUSANDS of people with this scam, probably 50 000 a month across lots of countries. Your chances of winning are absolute nil.

Plus, despite what they say, you WILL be called again, maybe by them or one of their affiliates. They ask about your race, income level, and your age/sex of your kids. They use this information not to sell, but for their future studies. They then know you have kids, so they’ll call you back if they have a client wanting the viewers of the commercial to have kids, like Huggies or something. Lie on the demographic questions, never say you have kids, say your race is like Filipino or something.

Sometimes Audience Studies has the gall to do surveys not with the dads tape, but just a tape with commercials. Can you believe that? They won’t tell you what it is beforehand - they just say “it’s material suitable for family viewing.” It’s just commercials, and they make money by gathering your opinions on the commercials. Still, let them mail it, use up their money to shrink the crooks’ profit margin.

HEY! Want to avoid the stupid endless questions about the commercials, but still get to view the tape like you committed? We can tell you how not to be mean to the poor minimum-wage-earning sap doing the callback, but still get your ass out of the two-hour survey.

DON’T tell them the tape never arrived - they’ll harass you and call back repeatedly.

Here’s some options:

1) Make sure you watch the tape or dvd right until the end of it - there might be hidden commercials after Dads that the telemarketer will ask you to watch when they call. Watching them beforehand ruins it, and the interview will be FAR FAR shorter. The tape tells you to stop, but don’t, go right to the end.

2) Tell the interviewer you fast-forwarded through all the commercials. Again, shortens the surveys and eliminates a lot of stupid commercial questions. Also say you rewound the tape after you watched it (doesn’t work for dvds).

3) To wreck their interview altogether (but still make them pay for UPS to ship the tape), throw the tape or dvd in the garbage after you watch it, or at least say you did. They have to have some tape number to do the interview, so say you don’t have it and that derails the whole interview. The bad thing is you don’t get in the prize drawings if that happens - but they don’t tell you that. The poor sucker thinks he’s in the draws but no.

4) Another way to avoid the endless interview altogether is to tell them the tape or dvd was busted when you opened the package. Tell them this happened, enjoy the sitcom (if it’s possible), then gloat at their wasted money.

5) Say you burned the yellow and green entry forms. Not sure if this info is ever used for anything productive, but it’s just to make them money as you tell them what brands you prefer. Don’t fill the shit out.

When they ask you which character you liked best/least, what elements of the show should be kept/gotten rid of, should a message or lesson be included, they DON’T RECORD THAT INFORMATION! It’s just an insult to your intelligence.

They don’t care about the sitcom at all, they only care about the commercials and your buying habits with regard to the products in them. They just ask the questions about the sitcom at the end to try to cheer you up after you’re pissed about answering hundreds of questions about the commercials to satisfy their clients. Stupid questions about what kind of shampoo you buy, what medical ailments you have, when you buy lawn fertilizer, shit like that.

You might never have to do the interview - they send out a ton of extra tapes because a lot of people refuse to do, or complete, the interview. They might never call you back if they get enough suckers before they call you.

Hope this helps, people. Have fun!

Gee, I wish I’d googled this stuff before I completed their stupid survey.  I was just asked a ton of questions regarding my willingness to buy or use KY Tingling Touch Massage Oil.  I feel dirty.  I got to watch a different show, though.  Rocky Laporte, or something like that.  The interviewer actually giggled as I criticized it.

Are you serious? I did that stupid thing yesterday. I wasted so much of my time. I had to watch that Rocky LaPorte thing too. It sucked. Then they asked about a billion questions about Neutrogena Stress something. Wow.

NOW I look this up.  I just watched Rocky LaPorte.  It sounds like it is a hair’s breath better than Dad’s from the posts.  That’s not saying much.  I like the idea of telling them I threw the envelope away when they call tomorrow.  Thanks.

Oh goodness. Watching Rocky LaPorte as we speak.

I got suckered into this too!  I just watched the Rocky LaPorte show.  I figured out ahead of time without coming on here that they were after my input on the commercials and such.  I do wonder why they wanted me to play the dvd on my dvd player and not my computer. 
I’m contemplating whether I want to talk to them tomorrow or not.  I don’t think I want to waste my time.....

Wow this is some funny stuff. I work for Ipsos Reid which is a sister company of Audience Studies(ASI) and man do I hate lying to people making people think it’s a pilot TV show when we really don’t give 2 shits about the show and one of the absolute worst was when the commercial was about hemeroid cream to to qualify to do the thing you had to use the cream for an obvious reason. But the crappiest was when we were talking to cancer patients about a new drug to boost there red blood cells after chemo, we had a targeted sample of phone numbers to call for that and it was a very depressing day talking to people who have accepted death and are waiting to die. But anywho remember that the info that you give us about the products you use does make a difference and helps to make the things you use better(or so i have been told) so please be nice to us poor boobs on the phone cause we hate talking to you as much as you hate talking to us

wow, i can’t believe there is a site about this sh*t. very cool… so ya, i WAS intially excited about posting my 2 cents but then no.. i waited and waited, no offence to those present. but nonetheless, here is what i have to say.

1) this is going against the ipsos contract (we’re not supposed to b*tch and whine about how crappy asi is) but f*ck ‘em. i’ve made my peace but it still irks me to know that people are being misled and used.

2) note to audience studies incorporated (asi): i understand that everyone has a paycheque to make thus you do unfortunately have to follow what the big ceo says and i do see the point in marketing products to people so that the makers can get feedback on whether or not they’ve f*cked up or not. i even understand the point behind wanting an upbiased opinion on the commercials. but it’s not right to do it in the way that you are. why not automatically let the respondents know that we’re really only interested in the commercials (and only have them watch that) or update the shows for new and acutal pilots and use that feedback.

3) my bf and actually got to watch rocky laporte earliier (go to youtube,com and type in ‘rocky laporte’) that is the most f*cked up show.. i remember this one lady i called (oh ya, if you haven’t guessed already i used to work for ipsos as well, up here in canada) told me that the show had already been done, as in the theme. holy jeez she was right. and it’s nice to know who sean is finally. heh.. he’s a dunce. hah hah… so many memories are coming back from what people said. another lady i talked to commented on how big the ring was and that it looked too fake to even be on the show. *sigh* why audience studies, why… why do you continue to treat us like pre-historic monkeys?

4) finally, to all the ipsos people, hi. please learn how to spell as well. reid is not ried… if you were to pronouce it phonetically, it sounds wrong.

Well what do you know, I used to work for Ipsos-Reid, as well!

As for an update on the situation…
‘Dads’ is no longer in circulation due to a number of complaints that it was, in fact, not suitable for family viewing. (I was told of a provocative scene involving a waitress.)

Now, they are circulating Rocky LaPorte in DVD format, and the DVD has no erasing feature, it just asks you to only watch it once. You can find Rocky LaPorte on Youtube.

Consider yourself lucky if you were only asked to watch one extra commercial. We Interviewers have been made to ask people to watch more than three at times depending upon the client.

I no longer am with Ipsos-Reid, as I actually do care about people’s opinions and I hated the brutal treatment I got with the company, both by the people I was made to call and by the company itself.

As of October 30th, 2007, (the date I quit) the wages paid to an Ipsos-Reid Interviewer is $8.25/hour. It is an entry-level position and is often got by kids and older people who haven’t the qualifications for anything else. The people who work at Ipsos are nice people - Please be polite to them.

Attention though; THERE IS A WAY TO GET ASI/IPSOS PEOPLE NOT TO CALL YOU BACK:
Use the following blurb:
“Please put me on the Do-Not-Call List, but thank you.”

Ask SPECIFICALLY for the DNC list, phrases such as ‘put me on the no call list,’ ‘take me off your list,’ or ‘fuck off don’t call again’ don’t work. By requirement, if an Interviewer is doing their job to the letter they will not Code 15 your number unless you ask for the DO NOT CALL list. Unless you’re me, because I did a favour for people and put their number on the DNC if they requested it no matter the phrasing. I got in shit for that but I didn’t care. They didn’t pay me enough to ensure the continued torturing of people.
Your number is randomly generated.

Regarding “Dads”, I got telemarketed into this back in 2001.  Since I knew it was a self-erasing tape, I decided on a lark to record the audio (I didn’t have a second VCR to copy the video), though I only got the first half of it.  As I write this, I’m listening back to the audio for the first time in seven years!  I agree that it’s a disaster of a show not a laugh to be had anywhere, except for poor Rue’s absurd accent.  Watching this show, I was embarrassed for all involved.

WE’RE NOT TELEMARKETERS
WE’RE MARKET RESEARCHERS, THERE’S A DIFFERENCE

also i hate doing this branch of surveys probably as much as you guys hate taking them so be nice and tell us you’re not interested