Jamster: Why?
by Darla
I'm sure you've seen the wave of commercials that are now airing on TV, especially MTV, VH1 and even Comedy Central. Jamster has moved in on us, targeting us through television!! With its offer of Bling Bling wallpapers and screensavers, Urban Ringtones, including the musical mix of Sir Mix Alot, and the not so funny "Baby Daddy" message. Yes, even I myself became interested in the "Ice Queen" screensaver for my phone. The simple format is to send a txt message to 35555 with the item of your choice and in return you receive a wap push message. Being a little curious before my download, I looked them up on the net. (ironically as I'm typing this the US site is down... go figure) Now this is where the consumer part is hidden... trust me, I sat up close to the tv to read the fine print! By downloading whatever it is that you chose, you are subscribing to a weekly service which cost $1.99!! Since the site is down I forgot what comes with that subscription, but I think it was like 3 ringtones or something. What I found fishy was the fact that when I first checked their website, there was a section for themes that included themes from Mango. Hmmm, I don't think they were aware of it. Selling their free themes as part of a weekly subscription? I think this is definately targeted for the people that don't know any better. I wonder what some of the bills will look like at the end of the month.
We've got that same dubious model here in Sweden, see http://www.jamba.se. Also heavily advertised on MTV and the youth channels. Scammy as hell.
Posted by: Gustaf Erikson | January 09, 2005 at 03:54 PM
Gustaf has it been out for awhile in Sweden? Seems like its branching out here in the US, but I still find it odd that the US site no longer works... hmmm.
Posted by: Darla | January 10, 2005 at 11:10 PM